Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC unveil their $240 million plans to open a slot parlor/hotel combo in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC seem to the be the stand out pick for the right to hold the solitary slots license in Eastern Massachusetts, after unveiling plans that could create up to 600 jobs for the city of Worcester.
Although the proposals show that the hotel and slot parlor will be built in different parts of the city; the decision to inter-link the two projects is a master stroke that should see the Chicago based company catch the eye of the state’s gaming commission when it comes to referendum time.
The race for the solitary license is reaching Willy Wonka Golden Ticket proportions as four duke it out to become one. Raynham Park, Plainridge Racecourse, PPE Casino Resorts and the aforementioned Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC have all paid the $400,000 application fee because they believe the golden ticket is their’s.
But the media believes it’s already a one-horse race with the words Mass gaming and Entertainment LLC plastered over every article written on the subject. The brains behind the outfit are Greg Carlin and Neil Bluhm, the pair who also own Rush Street Gaming; the gaming company that owns casinos in Des Plains, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. And they are pretty good at what they do, with The Sugarhouse Casino in Philly earning the ‘Top Workplace’ recognition for the second year in a row as reported in the annual survey published by The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.
The pair from the Windy City plan to build a slot parlor in the Canal District of Worcester with a downtown hotel thrown in for good measure. It’s a canny plan that might just be enough to twist the states arm when it comes to ballot time. The slots facility will hold 1,250 of the glittering babies, and the 120,000 square feet will also house two restaurants, a food court, bar and possibly even a spa. Carlin and Bluhm are in cohorts with the developers Carpenter & Co with their plans to open a $40 million hotel in the downtown area as the perfect partner in this intriguing bid.
“We’ve looked around the state and we really like this situation. We decided that we’d rather do slots only here than a full service in Springfield,” Mr Bluhm told the Telegram and Gazette.
The design for the slot facility will be based on a brick and glass exterior 19th century mill. An unusual deviation from the glassless casinos that we have become accustomed to.
The golden ticket is expected to be released in early 2014.
