The latter isn't new to the world, but it'll be joining our collection of stuff-about-expos.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
More new volumes for your enjoyment
Lookie what arrived in today's mail!
The latter isn't new to the world, but it'll be joining our collection of stuff-about-expos.
The latter isn't new to the world, but it'll be joining our collection of stuff-about-expos.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Bangkok hotel market
from today's Hotels newflash:
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 30, 2007 Tuesday 8:53 AM EST
Bangkok's upmarket hotels heading for 30-per-cent vacancies
"Bangkok's luxury hotels are facing a 30-per-cent
vacancy rate this year as a result of political uncertainties, a
strong baht and a weak economy, an international property consultant
predicted Tuesday.
"We expect that overall occupancy rates for Bangkok's four- and
five-star hotels will only be 70 per cent in 2007 compared to 75 per
cent in 2006," said Navaphol Viriyakunkit, head of research at CB
Richard Ellis Thailand.
CB Richard Ellis blamed the hotel occupancy decline on political
uncertainties; New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok last year, which
killed two people and have yet to be solved; and a weak economy.
Despite the slowdown, the average room rate in Bangkok's finest
hotels has risen 2 per cent this year in baht terms and more than 10
per cent in dollar terms because of the depreciation of the greenback
against the local currency.
CP Richard Ellis predicted that the average room rate at Bangkok's
luxury hotels was likely to hit 170 dollars per night at the end of
2007 compared with 158 dollars at present, primarily because of the
dollar's ongoing slide.
Hotel prospects for 2008 looked worse because of a looming glut in
the market.
The property consultant projected that more than 2,000 new four-
and five-star hotel rooms would be completed in Bangkok in 2008,
raising the supply by 24 per cent from 2007.
Thailand's tourist arrivals in 2007 have been disappointing.
During the first eight months of this year, 9.59 million tourists
visited the kingdom, up 2.3 per cent from the same period in 2006 but
well below the more than 10-per-cent increase registered in 2006." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDispl
ayFullDocument&orgId=616&topicId=12552&docId=l:6930482
55&start=10&nid=3457
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 30, 2007 Tuesday 8:53 AM EST
Bangkok's upmarket hotels heading for 30-per-cent vacancies
"Bangkok's luxury hotels are facing a 30-per-cent
vacancy rate this year as a result of political uncertainties, a
strong baht and a weak economy, an international property consultant
predicted Tuesday.
"We expect that overall occupancy rates for Bangkok's four- and
five-star hotels will only be 70 per cent in 2007 compared to 75 per
cent in 2006," said Navaphol Viriyakunkit, head of research at CB
Richard Ellis Thailand.
CB Richard Ellis blamed the hotel occupancy decline on political
uncertainties; New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok last year, which
killed two people and have yet to be solved; and a weak economy.
Despite the slowdown, the average room rate in Bangkok's finest
hotels has risen 2 per cent this year in baht terms and more than 10
per cent in dollar terms because of the depreciation of the greenback
against the local currency.
CP Richard Ellis predicted that the average room rate at Bangkok's
luxury hotels was likely to hit 170 dollars per night at the end of
2007 compared with 158 dollars at present, primarily because of the
dollar's ongoing slide.
Hotel prospects for 2008 looked worse because of a looming glut in
the market.
The property consultant projected that more than 2,000 new four-
and five-star hotel rooms would be completed in Bangkok in 2008,
raising the supply by 24 per cent from 2007.
Thailand's tourist arrivals in 2007 have been disappointing.
During the first eight months of this year, 9.59 million tourists
visited the kingdom, up 2.3 per cent from the same period in 2006 but
well below the more than 10-per-cent increase registered in 2006." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDispl
ayFullDocument&orgId=616&topicId=12552&docId=l:6930482
55&start=10&nid=3457
Fairmont opens first Africa property
from yesterday's Hotels newsflash
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Debuts in Africa
October 29, 2007
"Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced today the Fairmont Mara Safari Club has opened following an extensive renovation program. Surrounded on three sides by the Mara River, and on the edge of the world’s Seventh “New” Wonder of the World – the Masai Mara - Fairmont Mara Safari Club is the epitome of tented luxury. The resort will be joined by two additional renowned Kenyan properties in the coming months; in total, US$35 million of phased enhancements have been invested into Fairmont Mara Safari Club, Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, providing rich and distinctive offerings to guests." ...
"Guests can choose from a wide range of activities at Fairmont Mara Safari Club, including game drives and balloon safaris over the Mara plains capped with a champagne breakfast on the savannah or a stroll in the footprints of the hippo-trodden path escorted by a Masai Moran. The location provides a perfect base for visiting the Masai Mara, one of the world’s richest wildlife reserves, and home to an astounding array of animals including zebras, cheetahs, wildebeests, gazelles and of course the “Big Five”." ...
"Also opening under the Fairmont banner are Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, which are in the final stages of refurbishment. The collection of three properties will afford travelers a variety of options from which to enjoy warm hospitality and create truly memorable experiences. Opened in 1904, Fairmont Norfolk stands as one of Africa’s most talked about gathering places, hosting luminaries like President Theodore Roosevelt and Out of Africa’s Isak Dinesen. Today, the 165-room property serves as a hub of Nairobi business and ideal safari departure point, with four restaurants, an outdoor pool, an elegant ballroom and four function rooms.
Just 190 kilometers (118 miles) to the north, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, situated at the base of Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa, features 120 rooms in cottages, villas and suites on 100 acres of grounds, as well as a nine-hole golf course, pool, tennis and varied opportunities for adventure including horseback riding, bird watching, fishing, and an animal orphanage, as well as being a celebrated base for safaris. Founded by Oscar-winning actor William Holden, club membership included Winston Churchill, Bing Crosby and John Wayne."
for the complete press release see:
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDispla
yFullDocument&orgId=616&topicId=12552&docId=u:692430638&st
art=7&nid=3457
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Debuts in Africa
October 29, 2007
"Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced today the Fairmont Mara Safari Club has opened following an extensive renovation program. Surrounded on three sides by the Mara River, and on the edge of the world’s Seventh “New” Wonder of the World – the Masai Mara - Fairmont Mara Safari Club is the epitome of tented luxury. The resort will be joined by two additional renowned Kenyan properties in the coming months; in total, US$35 million of phased enhancements have been invested into Fairmont Mara Safari Club, Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, providing rich and distinctive offerings to guests." ...
"Guests can choose from a wide range of activities at Fairmont Mara Safari Club, including game drives and balloon safaris over the Mara plains capped with a champagne breakfast on the savannah or a stroll in the footprints of the hippo-trodden path escorted by a Masai Moran. The location provides a perfect base for visiting the Masai Mara, one of the world’s richest wildlife reserves, and home to an astounding array of animals including zebras, cheetahs, wildebeests, gazelles and of course the “Big Five”." ...
"Also opening under the Fairmont banner are Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, which are in the final stages of refurbishment. The collection of three properties will afford travelers a variety of options from which to enjoy warm hospitality and create truly memorable experiences. Opened in 1904, Fairmont Norfolk stands as one of Africa’s most talked about gathering places, hosting luminaries like President Theodore Roosevelt and Out of Africa’s Isak Dinesen. Today, the 165-room property serves as a hub of Nairobi business and ideal safari departure point, with four restaurants, an outdoor pool, an elegant ballroom and four function rooms.
Just 190 kilometers (118 miles) to the north, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, situated at the base of Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa, features 120 rooms in cottages, villas and suites on 100 acres of grounds, as well as a nine-hole golf course, pool, tennis and varied opportunities for adventure including horseback riding, bird watching, fishing, and an animal orphanage, as well as being a celebrated base for safaris. Founded by Oscar-winning actor William Holden, club membership included Winston Churchill, Bing Crosby and John Wayne."
for the complete press release see:
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDispla
yFullDocument&orgId=616&topicId=12552&docId=u:692430638&st
art=7&nid=3457
fascinating condo development deal
from yesterday's GlobeSt
Last updated: October 29, 2007 03:46pm
French Embassy Backs $175M Condo Plan
By Joe Clements
(Read more on the multifamily market.)
"TOKYO-A deal with an international flavor is slated to be finalized this week, as the French government is leasing land at its embassy here to make way for a luxury condominium development. The project is valued at more than $175 million by the developers, a partnership of Mitsui & Co. and Nomura Real Estate.
Situated on a five-acre compound in central Tokyo, the French Embassy is spinning off an acre in the northwestern corner for the 60 condominiums, units which are being priced individually at rates between $2.5 million and $4.5 million. To be constructed on one of the last undeveloped pieces of the dense island metropolis, the embassy condos are expected to garner substantial demand among prospective buyers, according to project proponents.
The French government will provide the land under a 50-year agreement, using the profits to build another embassy on the grounds and pay for upkeep of the new facility." ...
For the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1024_1024/asia/165522-1.html
Last updated: October 29, 2007 03:46pm
French Embassy Backs $175M Condo Plan
By Joe Clements
(Read more on the multifamily market.)
"TOKYO-A deal with an international flavor is slated to be finalized this week, as the French government is leasing land at its embassy here to make way for a luxury condominium development. The project is valued at more than $175 million by the developers, a partnership of Mitsui & Co. and Nomura Real Estate.
Situated on a five-acre compound in central Tokyo, the French Embassy is spinning off an acre in the northwestern corner for the 60 condominiums, units which are being priced individually at rates between $2.5 million and $4.5 million. To be constructed on one of the last undeveloped pieces of the dense island metropolis, the embassy condos are expected to garner substantial demand among prospective buyers, according to project proponents.
The French government will provide the land under a 50-year agreement, using the profits to build another embassy on the grounds and pay for upkeep of the new facility." ...
For the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1024_1024/asia/165522-1.html
Monday, October 29, 2007
Station Casinos buyout deal finalizing
from yesterday's GlobeSt
Last updated: October 28, 2007 08:56pm
Station Casinos Buyout Set to Close This Week
By Brian K. Miller
"LAS VEGAS-Publicly held Station Casinos Inc. is expected to be taken private early this week by Fertitta Colony Partners LLC, a joint venture of the Fertitta family that started the company and Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, which owns the Las Vegas Hilton. The $8.9-billion transaction--the largest ever private-equity buyout of a Nevada gaming company--calls for the JV to acquire $5.4 billion of stock and assume $3.4 billion in debt.
Station Casinos owns and operates a dozen casinos serving mostly locals in the Las Vegas Valley, including the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa. Under the terms of the buyout, holders of Station common stock will receive $90 per share in cash for each outstanding share and the company’s stock will immediately be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. On Friday shares traded at about 25% of average volume and ended the day at $89.83.
Fertitta Colony Partners is controlled by Station Casinos chairman/chief executive Frank Fertitta III, vice-chairman/president Lorenzo Fertitta and Colony Capital founder/chairman/chief executive Tom Barrack. The Fertitta brothers will continue handling the day-to-day operations of the company. The Fertittas, their sister Delise (Sartini) and her husband Blake, and Colony Capital have provided equity funding commitments for the stock purchase while affiliates of Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase Bank have provided debt financing commitments.
Due to Station Casinos’ management of Thunder Valley Casino, an Indian resort in Sacramento, the deal must still receive the approval of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Station shareholders approved the buyout in August, the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved the deal at the start of the month and the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved the acquisition late last week. A spokesperson for the NIGC told GlobeSt.com last week that no date had been set to vote on the buyout, but MGM Mirage maintains that the deal will before the end of the month." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1023_1023/lasvegas/165492-1.html
Last updated: October 28, 2007 08:56pm
Station Casinos Buyout Set to Close This Week
By Brian K. Miller
"LAS VEGAS-Publicly held Station Casinos Inc. is expected to be taken private early this week by Fertitta Colony Partners LLC, a joint venture of the Fertitta family that started the company and Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, which owns the Las Vegas Hilton. The $8.9-billion transaction--the largest ever private-equity buyout of a Nevada gaming company--calls for the JV to acquire $5.4 billion of stock and assume $3.4 billion in debt.
Station Casinos owns and operates a dozen casinos serving mostly locals in the Las Vegas Valley, including the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa. Under the terms of the buyout, holders of Station common stock will receive $90 per share in cash for each outstanding share and the company’s stock will immediately be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. On Friday shares traded at about 25% of average volume and ended the day at $89.83.
Fertitta Colony Partners is controlled by Station Casinos chairman/chief executive Frank Fertitta III, vice-chairman/president Lorenzo Fertitta and Colony Capital founder/chairman/chief executive Tom Barrack. The Fertitta brothers will continue handling the day-to-day operations of the company. The Fertittas, their sister Delise (Sartini) and her husband Blake, and Colony Capital have provided equity funding commitments for the stock purchase while affiliates of Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase Bank have provided debt financing commitments.
Due to Station Casinos’ management of Thunder Valley Casino, an Indian resort in Sacramento, the deal must still receive the approval of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Station shareholders approved the buyout in August, the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved the deal at the start of the month and the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved the acquisition late last week. A spokesperson for the NIGC told GlobeSt.com last week that no date had been set to vote on the buyout, but MGM Mirage maintains that the deal will before the end of the month." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1023_1023/lasvegas/165492-1.html
Hard Rock mixed use scheduled for Atlanta
from GlobeSt (10/26)
Last updated: October 26, 2007 02:40pm
Hard Rock Planning 270-Key Hotel Downtown
By Natalie Keith
"ATLANTA-Hard Rock International has entered into a management contract with Luckie Street Hotel Partners for development of a 270-room hotel across from the Georgia Aquarium. The hotel would be part of a mixed-use development that would also include 30 residential units.
Under the plans, construction could start in mid-2008 with scheduled completion for late 2010. Luckie Street is in the process of seeking financing for the project and is in discussions with selected banks. “With the recent acquisition of Hard Rock International, the Seminole Tribe of Florida continues to look for growth opportunities in the hotel and casino sectors,” says Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment chairman Jim Allen.
The hotel will be built on the site of the Atlanta New Century School and other properties across from the aquarium. The land is bordered by Latimer, Marietta, Simpson and Luckie streets and is next to the Hilton Garden Inn project which is scheduled to be completed in March." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1023_1023/atlanta/165477-1.html
Last updated: October 26, 2007 02:40pm
Hard Rock Planning 270-Key Hotel Downtown
By Natalie Keith
"ATLANTA-Hard Rock International has entered into a management contract with Luckie Street Hotel Partners for development of a 270-room hotel across from the Georgia Aquarium. The hotel would be part of a mixed-use development that would also include 30 residential units.
Under the plans, construction could start in mid-2008 with scheduled completion for late 2010. Luckie Street is in the process of seeking financing for the project and is in discussions with selected banks. “With the recent acquisition of Hard Rock International, the Seminole Tribe of Florida continues to look for growth opportunities in the hotel and casino sectors,” says Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment chairman Jim Allen.
The hotel will be built on the site of the Atlanta New Century School and other properties across from the aquarium. The land is bordered by Latimer, Marietta, Simpson and Luckie streets and is next to the Hilton Garden Inn project which is scheduled to be completed in March." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1023_1023/atlanta/165477-1.html
Tech incubator district announced for northern CO
from The Tribune (Greeley, CO) (10/26):
Regional technology incubator announced
Christopher Ortiz
October 26, 2007
"LOVELAND -- Calls for northern Colorado to think regionally might start getting answered after area leaders announced Thursday the creation of a regional technology business incubator.
Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, a nonprofit organization, was created with the cities of Greeley, Loveland and Fort Collins and with partnership with Colorado State University to accelerate the success of high-impact, innovative startup companies in northern Colorado. The new venture is an offspring of the Fort Collins Technology Incubator, which will now be a part of the RMI2, its given acronym.
The venture also will focus on promoting the development of an entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem in northern Colorado, and it will help pair startup companies with investors." ...
"The new formation is great news for startup companies in Greeley, said Kelly Peters, the city's economic development manager.
She said the city signed on right away when approached.
"We thought, "What would a regional effort look like?' " Peters said. "We were already incubating companies of our own."
But Peters admitted, "we are a few steps behind."
She said a few Greeley startup companies were looking to Fort Collins for help." ...
"Greeley has not made any financial contributions to RMI2 yet, Peters said.
The Fort Collins Technology Incubator will now be named the Fort Collins Innovation Center. Plans were announced to relocate the current facility, 200 W. Mountain Ave., to a large location in the next two years. Also, there are plans to open a Loveland Innovation Center in 2008. The centers will provide customized business incubation services such as advisory boards, consulting, professional services and resources." ...
"According to a study conducted by Development Research Partners in 2006, Larimer County has more than 400 companies, with more than 11,000 employees in the fields of computers and electronics, information technology, "agri-tech," biosciences and clean energy." ...
for the complete story:
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20071026/BUSINESS/11
0260173
Regional technology incubator announced
Christopher Ortiz
October 26, 2007
"LOVELAND -- Calls for northern Colorado to think regionally might start getting answered after area leaders announced Thursday the creation of a regional technology business incubator.
Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, a nonprofit organization, was created with the cities of Greeley, Loveland and Fort Collins and with partnership with Colorado State University to accelerate the success of high-impact, innovative startup companies in northern Colorado. The new venture is an offspring of the Fort Collins Technology Incubator, which will now be a part of the RMI2, its given acronym.
The venture also will focus on promoting the development of an entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem in northern Colorado, and it will help pair startup companies with investors." ...
"The new formation is great news for startup companies in Greeley, said Kelly Peters, the city's economic development manager.
She said the city signed on right away when approached.
"We thought, "What would a regional effort look like?' " Peters said. "We were already incubating companies of our own."
But Peters admitted, "we are a few steps behind."
She said a few Greeley startup companies were looking to Fort Collins for help." ...
"Greeley has not made any financial contributions to RMI2 yet, Peters said.
The Fort Collins Technology Incubator will now be named the Fort Collins Innovation Center. Plans were announced to relocate the current facility, 200 W. Mountain Ave., to a large location in the next two years. Also, there are plans to open a Loveland Innovation Center in 2008. The centers will provide customized business incubation services such as advisory boards, consulting, professional services and resources." ...
"According to a study conducted by Development Research Partners in 2006, Larimer County has more than 400 companies, with more than 11,000 employees in the fields of computers and electronics, information technology, "agri-tech," biosciences and clean energy." ...
for the complete story:
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20071026/BUSINESS/11
0260173
Indian consulting assistance on casino gaming
from this morning's Buffalo News--
Senecas to assist Massachusetts tribe on casinos
By Sharon Linstedt
Updated: 10/29/07 8:25 AM
"With two successful casino projects up and running, and a third permanent facility in development, the Seneca Nation of Indians will lend its gaming expertise to a Massachusetts tribe looking to get in the casino business.
The Senecas and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head announced a partnership to pursue one of three gambling licenses proposed for Massachusetts. Seneca Nation President Maurice A. John Sr. joined with Aquinnah Wampanoag Chairman Donald A. Widdiss in Boston to announce the casino development effort." ...
"Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick introduced a measure to authorize up to three destination resort casinos, with preference going to federally authorized Native American tribes. The Aquinnah Wampanoags were the first Massachusetts tribe to gain official authorization.
As legislation works its way through the Massachusetts legislature, the Senecas will assist the Aquinnah Wampanoags with market analysis, financing and lobbying efforts, according to Pantano.
“If they are selected, Seneca Gaming would continue to lend its expertise in site selection and casino development,” Pantano said. “The partnership agreement does not talk about any sort of operational relationship at this time. If that were to happen, there would be no ownership stake on our part.”
The casino development partnership between the Senecas and the Martha’s Vineyard based tribe follows last week’s announcement that the nation is vying for the rights to run a video lottery terminal casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Pantano said both opportunities open the door to greater exposure for its Western New York operations." ...
"In announcing the partnership, Widdiss, the Aquinnah Wampanoag chairman, noted the Senecas’ fast-paced success in developing Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca and a temporary Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo. In less than five years, the Senecas have invested more than $750 million in their projects.
Earlier this month, the Senecas unveiled plans for a $333 million permanent casino along Michigan Avenue in downtown Buffalo."
for the complete story see:
http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/194856.html
Senecas to assist Massachusetts tribe on casinos
By Sharon Linstedt
Updated: 10/29/07 8:25 AM
"With two successful casino projects up and running, and a third permanent facility in development, the Seneca Nation of Indians will lend its gaming expertise to a Massachusetts tribe looking to get in the casino business.
The Senecas and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head announced a partnership to pursue one of three gambling licenses proposed for Massachusetts. Seneca Nation President Maurice A. John Sr. joined with Aquinnah Wampanoag Chairman Donald A. Widdiss in Boston to announce the casino development effort." ...
"Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick introduced a measure to authorize up to three destination resort casinos, with preference going to federally authorized Native American tribes. The Aquinnah Wampanoags were the first Massachusetts tribe to gain official authorization.
As legislation works its way through the Massachusetts legislature, the Senecas will assist the Aquinnah Wampanoags with market analysis, financing and lobbying efforts, according to Pantano.
“If they are selected, Seneca Gaming would continue to lend its expertise in site selection and casino development,” Pantano said. “The partnership agreement does not talk about any sort of operational relationship at this time. If that were to happen, there would be no ownership stake on our part.”
The casino development partnership between the Senecas and the Martha’s Vineyard based tribe follows last week’s announcement that the nation is vying for the rights to run a video lottery terminal casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Pantano said both opportunities open the door to greater exposure for its Western New York operations." ...
"In announcing the partnership, Widdiss, the Aquinnah Wampanoag chairman, noted the Senecas’ fast-paced success in developing Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca and a temporary Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo. In less than five years, the Senecas have invested more than $750 million in their projects.
Earlier this month, the Senecas unveiled plans for a $333 million permanent casino along Michigan Avenue in downtown Buffalo."
for the complete story see:
http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/194856.html
Harrah's Indian gaming trouble
from yesterday's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Harrah's Faces $2.8B Problem Over Casino
Published: October 28. 2007 5:06PM
By Ryan Nakashima And William Kates
Associated Press
"It garners a mere one-paragraph mention in the quarterly earnings report, but the private equity buyers of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. could have a colossal $2.8 billion problem on their hands.
The world's largest casino company by revenue inherited a legal quagmire that dates back to 2000.
That's when Arthur Goldberg, then chief executive of Park Place Entertainment Corp., signed a deal with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to acquire the exclusive rights to jointly develop a casino in the Catskills in upstate New York, just a 90-minute drive from Manhattan.
The tribe's current leaders say the deal was a sham, only meant to protect profits at four casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., now owned by Park Place's successor company, Harrah's.
It also pushed aside a deal the tribe had to build a casino in the Catskills, which seven years later, still has not been built.
Members of the tribe sued Park Place for its interference in 2000 and won a $1.8 billion default judgment in a tribal court mainly because Park Place lawyers did not show up. In July, the tribal court affirmed the judgment and tacked on $1 billion in interest owed.
The tribe sued again this summer, this time in U.S. federal court, to enforce the tribal judgment.
That could add a huge liability to the $13.9 billion in debt that Harrah's private equity buyers, Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, agreed to take on in the $17.1 billion deal expected to close by early next year." ...
"Part of what led to the tribe's exclusivity deal with Park Place in 2000 was its money-losing Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in Hogansburg, N.Y.
The year-old casino was reportedly losing as much as $500,000 a month, plagued by cost overruns and too few customers.
Park Place's Goldberg approached the tribe with a bailout deal, and the Akwesasne casino operator, Ivan Kaufman, was all in favor.
Kaufman even bragged to Park Place general counsel Clive Cummis on Feb. 16, 2000, that he was manipulating the finances of the casino to push the tribe into Park Place's hands, according to a tape he made of the phone call.
"I have kind of delayed their payrolls and slowed it down so badly that, you know, they're looking at Arthur as the savior," he said in the tape.
When the tribe signed the exclusivity deal on April 14, 2000, Park Place agreed to pay "$3 million for use by the Tribe in its discretion."
Former Chief Hilda Smoke denied the $3 million was a bribe. She said it was used to pay debts and keep the casino going." ...
"The problem with the deal became apparent in the following months and years.
Instead of a site at a racetrack in Monticello, N.Y., that had received a rare Interior Department approval for off-reservation gaming, Park Place suggested Kutsher's Country Club, the last of the big, old-style Catskills resorts. The site would need all regulatory approvals from square one." ...
"But clouding the tribe's claim is its own long-standing self-governance dispute.
The tribe tried to enact a constitution in 1995, but it narrowly failed to get 51 percent support in a referendum, sparking a crisis in which two sets of governments - the constitutional one and the traditional elected three-chief system - operated at the same time.
The turmoil put in jeopardy the tribal court system that was established in late 1994 - a weakness that Harrah's lawyers sought to exploit, Vacco said.
In a letter to Harrah's lawyer George Carpinello on Sept. 14, Interior Department regional solicitor Horace Clark said the Bureau of Indian Affairs would determine which government to recognize by the end of October.
If the bureau fails to recognize the three chiefs system, the court set up by the chiefs may be seen as illegitimate, potentially reducing the billion-dollar judgment to worthless paper. Regardless, the federal case will continue, Vacco said.
Today, the tribe is moving ahead with a $600 million casino at Monticello with the former partner it once spurned for Park Place, a company called Empire Resorts Inc. The 125-table, 3,500-slot machine casino would best nearby slots parlors because of the variety of action and its proximity to New York, says Chief Lorraine White." ...
"Ironically, it's not Indian casinos in the Catskills that are now jeopardizing profits at Atlantic City casinos - it's legalized slot machine parlors that have recently popped up closer to New York in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Through September, Atlantic City's 11 casinos have taken in $3.8 billion, down 4.8 percent from the same period last year. It will likely mark the first annual revenue decline in the city's 29-year history of gambling.
Other jurisdictions in the northeastern U.S. are also flirting with gambling, including Massachusetts, the home state of Las Vegas Sands Corp. magnate Sheldon Adelson. Sands also is leading construction of a casino complex in Bethlehem, Pa., even closer to New York."
for the complete story see:
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200
71028/APF/710280700&template=apart
Harrah's Faces $2.8B Problem Over Casino
Published: October 28. 2007 5:06PM
By Ryan Nakashima And William Kates
Associated Press
"It garners a mere one-paragraph mention in the quarterly earnings report, but the private equity buyers of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. could have a colossal $2.8 billion problem on their hands.
The world's largest casino company by revenue inherited a legal quagmire that dates back to 2000.
That's when Arthur Goldberg, then chief executive of Park Place Entertainment Corp., signed a deal with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to acquire the exclusive rights to jointly develop a casino in the Catskills in upstate New York, just a 90-minute drive from Manhattan.
The tribe's current leaders say the deal was a sham, only meant to protect profits at four casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., now owned by Park Place's successor company, Harrah's.
It also pushed aside a deal the tribe had to build a casino in the Catskills, which seven years later, still has not been built.
Members of the tribe sued Park Place for its interference in 2000 and won a $1.8 billion default judgment in a tribal court mainly because Park Place lawyers did not show up. In July, the tribal court affirmed the judgment and tacked on $1 billion in interest owed.
The tribe sued again this summer, this time in U.S. federal court, to enforce the tribal judgment.
That could add a huge liability to the $13.9 billion in debt that Harrah's private equity buyers, Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, agreed to take on in the $17.1 billion deal expected to close by early next year." ...
"Part of what led to the tribe's exclusivity deal with Park Place in 2000 was its money-losing Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in Hogansburg, N.Y.
The year-old casino was reportedly losing as much as $500,000 a month, plagued by cost overruns and too few customers.
Park Place's Goldberg approached the tribe with a bailout deal, and the Akwesasne casino operator, Ivan Kaufman, was all in favor.
Kaufman even bragged to Park Place general counsel Clive Cummis on Feb. 16, 2000, that he was manipulating the finances of the casino to push the tribe into Park Place's hands, according to a tape he made of the phone call.
"I have kind of delayed their payrolls and slowed it down so badly that, you know, they're looking at Arthur as the savior," he said in the tape.
When the tribe signed the exclusivity deal on April 14, 2000, Park Place agreed to pay "$3 million for use by the Tribe in its discretion."
Former Chief Hilda Smoke denied the $3 million was a bribe. She said it was used to pay debts and keep the casino going." ...
"The problem with the deal became apparent in the following months and years.
Instead of a site at a racetrack in Monticello, N.Y., that had received a rare Interior Department approval for off-reservation gaming, Park Place suggested Kutsher's Country Club, the last of the big, old-style Catskills resorts. The site would need all regulatory approvals from square one." ...
"But clouding the tribe's claim is its own long-standing self-governance dispute.
The tribe tried to enact a constitution in 1995, but it narrowly failed to get 51 percent support in a referendum, sparking a crisis in which two sets of governments - the constitutional one and the traditional elected three-chief system - operated at the same time.
The turmoil put in jeopardy the tribal court system that was established in late 1994 - a weakness that Harrah's lawyers sought to exploit, Vacco said.
In a letter to Harrah's lawyer George Carpinello on Sept. 14, Interior Department regional solicitor Horace Clark said the Bureau of Indian Affairs would determine which government to recognize by the end of October.
If the bureau fails to recognize the three chiefs system, the court set up by the chiefs may be seen as illegitimate, potentially reducing the billion-dollar judgment to worthless paper. Regardless, the federal case will continue, Vacco said.
Today, the tribe is moving ahead with a $600 million casino at Monticello with the former partner it once spurned for Park Place, a company called Empire Resorts Inc. The 125-table, 3,500-slot machine casino would best nearby slots parlors because of the variety of action and its proximity to New York, says Chief Lorraine White." ...
"Ironically, it's not Indian casinos in the Catskills that are now jeopardizing profits at Atlantic City casinos - it's legalized slot machine parlors that have recently popped up closer to New York in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Through September, Atlantic City's 11 casinos have taken in $3.8 billion, down 4.8 percent from the same period last year. It will likely mark the first annual revenue decline in the city's 29-year history of gambling.
Other jurisdictions in the northeastern U.S. are also flirting with gambling, including Massachusetts, the home state of Las Vegas Sands Corp. magnate Sheldon Adelson. Sands also is leading construction of a casino complex in Bethlehem, Pa., even closer to New York."
for the complete story see:
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200
71028/APF/710280700&template=apart
Friday, October 26, 2007
state fairs setting records
Attendance totals (from misc sources) are in, and some states seem to be having a resurgence in fair popularity --
NC State Fair set a record for its 10-day run with attendance this year of 858,611
AR State Fair also set a 10-day record with 441,535
TX State Fair hasn't released attendance figures, but they toppled their record for food and ride sales with $29 million being spent at the Fair by visitors
NC State Fair set a record for its 10-day run with attendance this year of 858,611
AR State Fair also set a 10-day record with 441,535
TX State Fair hasn't released attendance figures, but they toppled their record for food and ride sales with $29 million being spent at the Fair by visitors
Hard Rock condo hotel planned next to GA Aquarium
from yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hard Rock plans hotel near Georgia Aquarium
By KEVIN DUFFY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/25/07
"The company that operates Hard Rock Cafe plans to open a hotel and condo tower opposite the Georgia Aquarium.
Hard Rock International and Luckie Street Hotel Partners plan to jointly build the project, which will have 270 rooms, 30 condos and retail and entertainment space.
The building will have a spa and fitness center, a recording studio called Glory Days Studio, restaurants and bars, the developers announced Thursday.
They also said a music museum and "music industry incubator" might be part of future plans." ...
"Luckie Street said it's discussing financing with several banks. Construction could start in mid-2008 and the hotel could open in late 2010."
for the complete story see:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/sto
ries/2007/10/25/hardrock_1026.html
Hard Rock plans hotel near Georgia Aquarium
By KEVIN DUFFY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/25/07
"The company that operates Hard Rock Cafe plans to open a hotel and condo tower opposite the Georgia Aquarium.
Hard Rock International and Luckie Street Hotel Partners plan to jointly build the project, which will have 270 rooms, 30 condos and retail and entertainment space.
The building will have a spa and fitness center, a recording studio called Glory Days Studio, restaurants and bars, the developers announced Thursday.
They also said a music museum and "music industry incubator" might be part of future plans." ...
"Luckie Street said it's discussing financing with several banks. Construction could start in mid-2008 and the hotel could open in late 2010."
for the complete story see:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/sto
ries/2007/10/25/hardrock_1026.html
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Chicago gaming
from the Chicago Sun Times (10/24):
Making no small bets
Latest scheme to bring casino to Windy City is on Vegas scale
October 24, 2007
DAVID ROEDER droeder@suntimes.com
"Maybe Daniel Burnham would applaud Chicago's energized push to get a downtown casino out of the state Legislature. Hearings a week ago on the matter showed that if nothing else, city officials are making no little plans for gambling.
They want something on a Vegas scale that would dwarf the riverboat operations. Mayor Daley's aides blithely estimate that revenues could hit $1 billion a year.
Where could an operation of that scale go? If you rule out McCormick Place, a site the business interests say is too distant from downtown hotels and restaurants, then real estate experts and planners concentrate on two possibilities. They are the old downtown post office at 433 W. Van Buren and the Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 S. Michigan.
The old post office, which spans Congress Parkway, is massive enough to accommodate anything that can be dreamed up. It's under the control of Neil Bluhm, a developer with more than a passing interest in the slots. He owns stakes in casinos in Las Vegas and on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, and he tried to get a gambling operation here in Des Plaines.
The drawback to the site is that Bluhm's development firm still needs to sell condos in parts of the post office to fill out the space. Will people live next to a casino?" ...
for the full story see:
http://www.suntimes.com/business/roeder/616718,CST-FI
N-roeder24.article
Making no small bets
Latest scheme to bring casino to Windy City is on Vegas scale
October 24, 2007
DAVID ROEDER droeder@suntimes.com
"Maybe Daniel Burnham would applaud Chicago's energized push to get a downtown casino out of the state Legislature. Hearings a week ago on the matter showed that if nothing else, city officials are making no little plans for gambling.
They want something on a Vegas scale that would dwarf the riverboat operations. Mayor Daley's aides blithely estimate that revenues could hit $1 billion a year.
Where could an operation of that scale go? If you rule out McCormick Place, a site the business interests say is too distant from downtown hotels and restaurants, then real estate experts and planners concentrate on two possibilities. They are the old downtown post office at 433 W. Van Buren and the Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 S. Michigan.
The old post office, which spans Congress Parkway, is massive enough to accommodate anything that can be dreamed up. It's under the control of Neil Bluhm, a developer with more than a passing interest in the slots. He owns stakes in casinos in Las Vegas and on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, and he tried to get a gambling operation here in Des Plaines.
The drawback to the site is that Bluhm's development firm still needs to sell condos in parts of the post office to fill out the space. Will people live next to a casino?" ...
for the full story see:
http://www.suntimes.com/business/roeder/616718,CST-FI
N-roeder24.article
green/sustainable building issues
from today's GlobeSt
October 25, 2007 07:47am
Source: Green Is Good, But Risks Lurk
By Daniel D. Williams
"LOS ANGELES-Green, for lack of a better word, is good. But it doesn’t come without a price, or risk, according to Timothy Corbett, president of Pasadena-based SmartRisk. Speaking yesterday at AIA-Los Angeles’ inaugural conference on public space and design, he said the green building boom has created increased challenges to designers and engineers of those projects.
Corbett explained that clients of green projects have heightened expectations of the finished product. But sometimes what they envisioned doesn’t measure up to what they see, leading to claims filed against the project’s engineer or architect.
Corbett said the claims carry a broad range of complaints. In one case, the client cited a US Green Building Council (USGBC) study that promised healthier and more productive employees in a gold-certified building. “The tenant demanded a rent rebate and the owner sued the design firm for negligence for believing it would be a non-sick building,” said Corbett.
In another case, the client was a government contractor that required a top-secret security clearance for nuclear research. “The client requested a green building that included an extensive day-lighting system (with impressive skylights)” which negated the top-secret security needed at the site. Once completed, “the client sued the designer for negligence.” " ...
"According to the US Green Building Council, 1.84% is the average additional cost of going green. For the basic level of certification, average costs rise .66%; costs top out at an additional 6.5% for the platinum level. While direct benefits of green design such as energy savings (20-55%), carbon savings (35-65%), water use savings (30-50%) and waste costs savings (50-90%) can cut into those added costs for sustainable projects, indirect benefits should be taken into account as well. " ...
"Development of green buildings this year is expected to top $12 billion this year. That’s up from $6 billion just a couple of years ago, Corbett said. While office buildings top the news for sustainable development, all product types are touched by green design. Corbett said 23% of new retail sites carry a green element, and two-thirds of homebuilders are already onboard. By the year 2010 between 5-10% of new homes will have green options. “That’s a $19 billion - $38 billion market,” Corbett noted." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1021_1021/losangeles/165
417-1.html
October 25, 2007 07:47am
Source: Green Is Good, But Risks Lurk
By Daniel D. Williams
"LOS ANGELES-Green, for lack of a better word, is good. But it doesn’t come without a price, or risk, according to Timothy Corbett, president of Pasadena-based SmartRisk. Speaking yesterday at AIA-Los Angeles’ inaugural conference on public space and design, he said the green building boom has created increased challenges to designers and engineers of those projects.
Corbett explained that clients of green projects have heightened expectations of the finished product. But sometimes what they envisioned doesn’t measure up to what they see, leading to claims filed against the project’s engineer or architect.
Corbett said the claims carry a broad range of complaints. In one case, the client cited a US Green Building Council (USGBC) study that promised healthier and more productive employees in a gold-certified building. “The tenant demanded a rent rebate and the owner sued the design firm for negligence for believing it would be a non-sick building,” said Corbett.
In another case, the client was a government contractor that required a top-secret security clearance for nuclear research. “The client requested a green building that included an extensive day-lighting system (with impressive skylights)” which negated the top-secret security needed at the site. Once completed, “the client sued the designer for negligence.” " ...
"According to the US Green Building Council, 1.84% is the average additional cost of going green. For the basic level of certification, average costs rise .66%; costs top out at an additional 6.5% for the platinum level. While direct benefits of green design such as energy savings (20-55%), carbon savings (35-65%), water use savings (30-50%) and waste costs savings (50-90%) can cut into those added costs for sustainable projects, indirect benefits should be taken into account as well. " ...
"Development of green buildings this year is expected to top $12 billion this year. That’s up from $6 billion just a couple of years ago, Corbett said. While office buildings top the news for sustainable development, all product types are touched by green design. Corbett said 23% of new retail sites carry a green element, and two-thirds of homebuilders are already onboard. By the year 2010 between 5-10% of new homes will have green options. “That’s a $19 billion - $38 billion market,” Corbett noted." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1021_1021/losangeles/165
417-1.html
Monday, October 15, 2007
Film industry -- Scotland
from The Scotsman (10/13)
Lack of studios only snag to film future if weather turns say Hollywood chiefs
LINDSAY MCINTOSH (lmcintosh@scotsman.com)
"AS THE helicopter swept low over the mountains and Scotland's breathtaking scenery rolled out spectacularly below, those on board had one collective thought: "That would look great in the movies."
And if anyone could turn such a whim into reality, it was these passengers - all senior figures in Hollywood looking for inspiration for their latest blockbusters.
They were on a reconnaissance aerial trip around the country organised by national film body Scottish Screen and already had plans to come back.
Vicki Gabor of Walt Disney was wondering if a sequel to Wild Hogs, which starred John Travolta, could work in Scotland.
And the crumbling castles caught the artistic eye of Mike Heard of 20th Century Fox Studios, who thought they could feature well in his new fantasy project, Wolf Brother. With them on yesterday's trip were Malee Nerenhausen of Yari Film Group and freelance producer Andy Weltman who has worked on the likes of Dead Poets Society and The Perfect Storm. He is currently based in Scotland and is involved in projects with Saltire Films.
Back at Edinburgh Castle, all enthused about their trip, which started at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh and took in locations including Rannoch Moor, Fort William, Oban, Loch Lomond and Glasgow.
They felt the UK and Scottish film industries were making efforts to make production more financially rewarding with tax incentives, and the production talents north of the border were exemplary. The only snag was the lack of studios which could be used when the unpredictable Scottish weather conspired to make outdoor shooting impossible.
Mr Heard, vice-president physical production at Fox, said: "If we are spending £25,000 a day when we're filming and we wake up and it's raining we lose it if we don't have a place to go. It puts me off but it doesn't put me out."
Ms Gabor, vice-president finance at Disney, enthused: "Today was wonderful. We were able to see so many different lochs and shorelines and mountains and rivers, and also see the ability to use warehouses as stage space.
"I think as your industry grows you'll have more work which will bring more business here. I think it takes time."
There have been concerns in the past that Scotland does not offer enough tax relief to filmmakers, which has prompted them to work elsewhere. Sections of the quintessentially Scottish Braveheart were filmed in Ireland.
Ms Gabor said: "Tax is an issue, but I think it is becoming less of an issue because you do have an incentive scheme now. As studios, we are looking for money as well as locations."
Celia Stevenson, Scottish Screen's head of inward investment, who organised the tour, said she felt it had gone "extremely well".
She added that although there was not a dedicated studio in Scotland, the industry was "very good at finding build space - empty warehouses which can be used to build sets inside". " .....
For the complete story see:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1636432007
Lack of studios only snag to film future if weather turns say Hollywood chiefs
LINDSAY MCINTOSH (lmcintosh@scotsman.com)
"AS THE helicopter swept low over the mountains and Scotland's breathtaking scenery rolled out spectacularly below, those on board had one collective thought: "That would look great in the movies."
And if anyone could turn such a whim into reality, it was these passengers - all senior figures in Hollywood looking for inspiration for their latest blockbusters.
They were on a reconnaissance aerial trip around the country organised by national film body Scottish Screen and already had plans to come back.
Vicki Gabor of Walt Disney was wondering if a sequel to Wild Hogs, which starred John Travolta, could work in Scotland.
And the crumbling castles caught the artistic eye of Mike Heard of 20th Century Fox Studios, who thought they could feature well in his new fantasy project, Wolf Brother. With them on yesterday's trip were Malee Nerenhausen of Yari Film Group and freelance producer Andy Weltman who has worked on the likes of Dead Poets Society and The Perfect Storm. He is currently based in Scotland and is involved in projects with Saltire Films.
Back at Edinburgh Castle, all enthused about their trip, which started at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh and took in locations including Rannoch Moor, Fort William, Oban, Loch Lomond and Glasgow.
They felt the UK and Scottish film industries were making efforts to make production more financially rewarding with tax incentives, and the production talents north of the border were exemplary. The only snag was the lack of studios which could be used when the unpredictable Scottish weather conspired to make outdoor shooting impossible.
Mr Heard, vice-president physical production at Fox, said: "If we are spending £25,000 a day when we're filming and we wake up and it's raining we lose it if we don't have a place to go. It puts me off but it doesn't put me out."
Ms Gabor, vice-president finance at Disney, enthused: "Today was wonderful. We were able to see so many different lochs and shorelines and mountains and rivers, and also see the ability to use warehouses as stage space.
"I think as your industry grows you'll have more work which will bring more business here. I think it takes time."
There have been concerns in the past that Scotland does not offer enough tax relief to filmmakers, which has prompted them to work elsewhere. Sections of the quintessentially Scottish Braveheart were filmed in Ireland.
Ms Gabor said: "Tax is an issue, but I think it is becoming less of an issue because you do have an incentive scheme now. As studios, we are looking for money as well as locations."
Celia Stevenson, Scottish Screen's head of inward investment, who organised the tour, said she felt it had gone "extremely well".
She added that although there was not a dedicated studio in Scotland, the industry was "very good at finding build space - empty warehouses which can be used to build sets inside". " .....
For the complete story see:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1636432007
MA gaming opportunities
from the Boston Herald (10/13):
Casino bidders get 3 tries
Plan lets gaming cos. hedge bets
By Scott Van Voorhis
October 13, 2007
"Gaming companies looking to gain a foothold in the Massachusetts market may be able to exploit a potentially valuable wrinkle in Gov. Deval Patrick’s recently unveiled casino proposal.
Patrick’s plan calls for three resort casinos in three different parts of the state. While no gaming company or developer can build and operate more than one casino, there is no prohition [sic] against the number of bids a single company can submit.
That means some gaming companies could hedge their bets - and increase their chances of landing a coveted casino license - by subitting bids in two or even three regions. Under Patrick’s plan, one casino will be awarded in each of the three main sectors of the state, Greater Boston and the North Shore, Western/Central Massachusetts, and Southeastern Massachusetts." ...
"The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard, for example, has an agreement to work with landowner Northeast Resources on sites both in New Bedford, in the Southeastern region, and in Palmer, in Western Massachusetts, according to Northeast’s Leon Dragone. The Palmer plan calls for a $1 billion casino backed by Mohegan Sun.
Meanwhile, Sheldon Adelson, head of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., has looked at sites in the Marlboro area. That’s right on the dividing line between the Boston area, as defined in Patrick’s casino plan, and Western/Central Massachusetts.
Rev. Richard McGowan, an economics professor and gaming industry expert at Boston College, pointed to a precedent in Pennsylvania, where Harrah’s Entertainment, submitted bids on a number of gaming sites."
For the complete story see:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?arti
cleid=1037778
Casino bidders get 3 tries
Plan lets gaming cos. hedge bets
By Scott Van Voorhis
October 13, 2007
"Gaming companies looking to gain a foothold in the Massachusetts market may be able to exploit a potentially valuable wrinkle in Gov. Deval Patrick’s recently unveiled casino proposal.
Patrick’s plan calls for three resort casinos in three different parts of the state. While no gaming company or developer can build and operate more than one casino, there is no prohition [sic] against the number of bids a single company can submit.
That means some gaming companies could hedge their bets - and increase their chances of landing a coveted casino license - by subitting bids in two or even three regions. Under Patrick’s plan, one casino will be awarded in each of the three main sectors of the state, Greater Boston and the North Shore, Western/Central Massachusetts, and Southeastern Massachusetts." ...
"The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard, for example, has an agreement to work with landowner Northeast Resources on sites both in New Bedford, in the Southeastern region, and in Palmer, in Western Massachusetts, according to Northeast’s Leon Dragone. The Palmer plan calls for a $1 billion casino backed by Mohegan Sun.
Meanwhile, Sheldon Adelson, head of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., has looked at sites in the Marlboro area. That’s right on the dividing line between the Boston area, as defined in Patrick’s casino plan, and Western/Central Massachusetts.
Rev. Richard McGowan, an economics professor and gaming industry expert at Boston College, pointed to a precedent in Pennsylvania, where Harrah’s Entertainment, submitted bids on a number of gaming sites."
For the complete story see:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?arti
cleid=1037778
Gulf Coast casinos
from the Boston Herald (10/11):
Casinos on a roll as Mississippi coast rebuilds from Katrina
October 11, 2007
"BILOXI, Miss. - The highway along the Mississippi Gulf Coast would be forlorn if not for the casinos, which are having their best year ever.
The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has proven to be little more than a temporary setback to the conversion of formerly sleepy beachfront communities into the Las Vegas of the Deep South.
Although affordable housing is scarce and businesses have trouble getting insurance coverage to rebuild since the storm, 11 casinos are open in Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis and Lakeshore. Two are under or nearing construction and there’s talk of more coming." ....
"On U.S. 90 joining Gulfport and Biloxi — known locally as Beach Boulevard — there is not one working gasoline pump. Only a handful of non-casino restaurants have reopened.
Along a highway once known for stores hawking beachwear and souvenirs, only one outlet caters to tourists looking to lie in the white Gulf sands, a chief attraction before gambling began in 1992. The others have been demolished or are storm-shattered shells."
"The 12 casinos operating along the coast two years ago were no match for Katrina’s winds and storm surge on Aug. 29, 2005. At the time, state law required the gambling portion of the resorts to be on barges in the water.
In a special session called quickly after the storm, the state Legislature decided to let coastal casinos build on shore.
"A lot of the casinos, more than half, said that if they had to come back on the water, they wouldn’t have reopened," said Beverly Martin, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association. "It affected their insurance."
So far, casino companies have spent $1.7 billion rebuilding along the coast, according to the Gulf Coast Business Council, a corporate executives group.
And new projects are in store.
Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. has started the largest post-Katrina project with its $700 million Margaritaville Casino & Resort scheduled to open in 2010 in Biloxi.
Torguson Gaming Group Inc. hopes to break ground later this year on its $600 million Bacaran Bay resort in Biloxi, projected to open 2009, including a casino, 459-room hotel and 663 condominiums.
The casinos currently employ 17,000 people. About 70 percent of the 10,000 hotel rooms available on the coast are at casino resorts. Each casino is averaging 5,000 visitors per day, matching pre-Katrina figures, Martin said.
According to the Mississippi State Tax Commission, coastal casinos took in $124.7 million in gambling revenue in July, up from $101.7 million in July 2005, the month before Katrina. For the first eight months of 2007, the casinos have won $887 million from gamblers, up from $863.5 million for the first eight months of 2004, the last full year before Katrina.
At that rate, the casinos are in line to better 2004, their best year ever, when gamblers left behind $1.23 billion.
Like their resort counterparts elsewhere, the Mississippi casinos are pushing non-gambling amenities such as golf courses, spas, restaurants, and meeting and entertainment venues. Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said the split between gambling and non-gambling revenue for coastal casinos is about 65-35 percent — and headed more toward the non-gambling side.
"I could see them becoming the Atlantic City of the South," said Andy Holtmann, editor of the Las Vegas-based Casino Journal, a trade publication. "There’s a lot of other markets expanding, but the prospects for them are solid."
The next step will be to boost other tourist attractions, said Brian Sanderson, the business council’s president. There are 20 golf courses in the area. More than 70 events, many of them major entertainment acts, have been staged at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum this year. And the region hopes to attract a major theme park operator within the next five years, Sanderson said." ...
"In an August report, the business council pointed to 30,000 building permits issued, a 61 percent increase in retail sales since 2004 and $343 million in planned military projects.
But the council said obtaining affordable property insurance remains a barrier to business and although there were 3,000 homes on the market in the region, the average $168,000 price "fails to meet the demand for affordable work force housing."
Katrina severely damaged or destroyed 70,000 homes in Mississippi, including at least 8,600 rental units." ...
For the complete story see: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?art
icleid=1037474
Casinos on a roll as Mississippi coast rebuilds from Katrina
October 11, 2007
"BILOXI, Miss. - The highway along the Mississippi Gulf Coast would be forlorn if not for the casinos, which are having their best year ever.
The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has proven to be little more than a temporary setback to the conversion of formerly sleepy beachfront communities into the Las Vegas of the Deep South.
Although affordable housing is scarce and businesses have trouble getting insurance coverage to rebuild since the storm, 11 casinos are open in Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis and Lakeshore. Two are under or nearing construction and there’s talk of more coming." ....
"On U.S. 90 joining Gulfport and Biloxi — known locally as Beach Boulevard — there is not one working gasoline pump. Only a handful of non-casino restaurants have reopened.
Along a highway once known for stores hawking beachwear and souvenirs, only one outlet caters to tourists looking to lie in the white Gulf sands, a chief attraction before gambling began in 1992. The others have been demolished or are storm-shattered shells."
"The 12 casinos operating along the coast two years ago were no match for Katrina’s winds and storm surge on Aug. 29, 2005. At the time, state law required the gambling portion of the resorts to be on barges in the water.
In a special session called quickly after the storm, the state Legislature decided to let coastal casinos build on shore.
"A lot of the casinos, more than half, said that if they had to come back on the water, they wouldn’t have reopened," said Beverly Martin, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association. "It affected their insurance."
So far, casino companies have spent $1.7 billion rebuilding along the coast, according to the Gulf Coast Business Council, a corporate executives group.
And new projects are in store.
Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. has started the largest post-Katrina project with its $700 million Margaritaville Casino & Resort scheduled to open in 2010 in Biloxi.
Torguson Gaming Group Inc. hopes to break ground later this year on its $600 million Bacaran Bay resort in Biloxi, projected to open 2009, including a casino, 459-room hotel and 663 condominiums.
The casinos currently employ 17,000 people. About 70 percent of the 10,000 hotel rooms available on the coast are at casino resorts. Each casino is averaging 5,000 visitors per day, matching pre-Katrina figures, Martin said.
According to the Mississippi State Tax Commission, coastal casinos took in $124.7 million in gambling revenue in July, up from $101.7 million in July 2005, the month before Katrina. For the first eight months of 2007, the casinos have won $887 million from gamblers, up from $863.5 million for the first eight months of 2004, the last full year before Katrina.
At that rate, the casinos are in line to better 2004, their best year ever, when gamblers left behind $1.23 billion.
Like their resort counterparts elsewhere, the Mississippi casinos are pushing non-gambling amenities such as golf courses, spas, restaurants, and meeting and entertainment venues. Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said the split between gambling and non-gambling revenue for coastal casinos is about 65-35 percent — and headed more toward the non-gambling side.
"I could see them becoming the Atlantic City of the South," said Andy Holtmann, editor of the Las Vegas-based Casino Journal, a trade publication. "There’s a lot of other markets expanding, but the prospects for them are solid."
The next step will be to boost other tourist attractions, said Brian Sanderson, the business council’s president. There are 20 golf courses in the area. More than 70 events, many of them major entertainment acts, have been staged at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum this year. And the region hopes to attract a major theme park operator within the next five years, Sanderson said." ...
"In an August report, the business council pointed to 30,000 building permits issued, a 61 percent increase in retail sales since 2004 and $343 million in planned military projects.
But the council said obtaining affordable property insurance remains a barrier to business and although there were 3,000 homes on the market in the region, the average $168,000 price "fails to meet the demand for affordable work force housing."
Katrina severely damaged or destroyed 70,000 homes in Mississippi, including at least 8,600 rental units." ...
For the complete story see: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?art
icleid=1037474
Harrah's plans for Suffolk Downs track, Boston
from the Boston Herald (10/11)
Harrah’s eyes casino resort at racetrack
Hail Caesars Downs
By Scott Van Voorhis
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"A $1 billion Caesars resort would take shape at Suffolk Downs in East Boston if Gary Loveman, the head of one of the world’s largest casino companies, has his way.
Loveman, chief executive of Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment, told the Herald yesterday he has long been interested in building a destination gaming resort at the racetrack and has had discussions with at least one of the track’s owners.
And if a deal were to be cut, Loveman said he would seriously consider building a Caesars, the top shelf brand of Harrah’s global gaming empire. To do so, though, Loveman said Harrah’s would have to be able to build out a full gaming resort, complete with hotels, restaurants, retail shops and spa." ...
"Loveman’s comments come as a number of gaming companies line up to take a look at the Massachusetts market in the wake of Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to open the state to resort-style casinos. The governor is expected to unveil a casino bill today spelling out crucial details on how his plan will work.
Loveman said he has had a longstanding dialogue with Boston concessionaire and Suffolk co-owner Joseph O’Donnell regarding building a casino at the Suffolk site. The two sit together on the board of Children’s Hospital and share ties to Harvard Business School.
Loveman contends that a Boston resort casino will need the backing of a major gaming company to compete against Connecticut’s Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, two of the world’s most successful casinos." ...
"O’Donnell said Loveman and Harrah’s would be on the “shortlist” of potential partners if the time comes for such discussions. But he stressed the debate over casino gambling in Massachusetts still has a long way to go.
In fact, Patrick and other top state officials have expressed reservations about building a resort casino in Boston." ....
For the complete story see:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?arti
cleid=1037364
Harrah’s eyes casino resort at racetrack
Hail Caesars Downs
By Scott Van Voorhis
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"A $1 billion Caesars resort would take shape at Suffolk Downs in East Boston if Gary Loveman, the head of one of the world’s largest casino companies, has his way.
Loveman, chief executive of Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment, told the Herald yesterday he has long been interested in building a destination gaming resort at the racetrack and has had discussions with at least one of the track’s owners.
And if a deal were to be cut, Loveman said he would seriously consider building a Caesars, the top shelf brand of Harrah’s global gaming empire. To do so, though, Loveman said Harrah’s would have to be able to build out a full gaming resort, complete with hotels, restaurants, retail shops and spa." ...
"Loveman’s comments come as a number of gaming companies line up to take a look at the Massachusetts market in the wake of Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to open the state to resort-style casinos. The governor is expected to unveil a casino bill today spelling out crucial details on how his plan will work.
Loveman said he has had a longstanding dialogue with Boston concessionaire and Suffolk co-owner Joseph O’Donnell regarding building a casino at the Suffolk site. The two sit together on the board of Children’s Hospital and share ties to Harvard Business School.
Loveman contends that a Boston resort casino will need the backing of a major gaming company to compete against Connecticut’s Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, two of the world’s most successful casinos." ...
"O’Donnell said Loveman and Harrah’s would be on the “shortlist” of potential partners if the time comes for such discussions. But he stressed the debate over casino gambling in Massachusetts still has a long way to go.
In fact, Patrick and other top state officials have expressed reservations about building a resort casino in Boston." ....
For the complete story see:
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?arti
cleid=1037364
Saturday, October 13, 2007
misc news
M&C (Oct): feature on second-tier meeting cities (includes: Kansas City, MO; St. Louis; Oklahoma City; Minneapolis; Cincinnati); destination guides for: FL West Coast, Southern CA, and Mexico
Nation's Restaurant News (10/8): revitalized malls and dining
IGWB (Oct): Spain's casino market; Macao Venetian; Century Casinos expansions
Shopping Center Business (Oct): movie theaters with high-quality grill concept
New Urban News (Sept): LEED aiming for national standard for neighborhood design; definitions of retail types and centers
Hotels (Oct): San Antonio opens JW Marriott; Asia's budget hotel sector trends; Central American market
Funworld (Oct): Thinkwell develops new coaster for PortAventura; Parque Mundo Adventura in Bogata sports new investment; Paramount UAE theme park project; Las Vegas to get a miniature-themed theme park "America in Miniature;" new trends in casinos; post-Katrina recovery on the MS Gulf Coast; how to attract people to attractions; malls and their entertainment attractions; Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (CA)
Nation's Restaurant News (10/8): revitalized malls and dining
IGWB (Oct): Spain's casino market; Macao Venetian; Century Casinos expansions
Shopping Center Business (Oct): movie theaters with high-quality grill concept
New Urban News (Sept): LEED aiming for national standard for neighborhood design; definitions of retail types and centers
Hotels (Oct): San Antonio opens JW Marriott; Asia's budget hotel sector trends; Central American market
Funworld (Oct): Thinkwell develops new coaster for PortAventura; Parque Mundo Adventura in Bogata sports new investment; Paramount UAE theme park project; Las Vegas to get a miniature-themed theme park "America in Miniature;" new trends in casinos; post-Katrina recovery on the MS Gulf Coast; how to attract people to attractions; malls and their entertainment attractions; Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (CA)
local/regioanl real estate and business news
Indian Country Today (10/10): Foxwoods signs deal for indoor waterpark with Great Wolf; Navajo council stalls on plans for financing casino construction; Shoshone Rose casino (WY) ready to open; Northern Arapaho (WY) expanding gaming
California Real Estate Journal (10/8): Inland Empire set to be greened
San Diego Business Journal (10/8): CVB budget and San Diego tourism
California Real Estate Journal (10/8): Inland Empire set to be greened
San Diego Business Journal (10/8): CVB budget and San Diego tourism
Thursday, October 11, 2007
retailers hit by hot weather
from today's Wall Street Journal:
Retailers Post Weak Sales,
Cut Growth Expectations
Wal-Mart Boosts Earnings Outlook
By JAMES COVERT
October 11, 2007 1:17 p.m.
"NEW YORK -- Retailers posted weaker-than-expected September sales, stoking worries that the housing slump and credit crunch will crimp spending during the crucial holiday season.
Blaming unusually balmy weather that quelled demand for fall fashions, department stores and apparel retailers reported some of the most disappointing results, with J.C. Penney Co., Nordstrom Inc. and Limited Brands Inc. all cutting their estimates for third-quarter profits. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., however, raised its earnings outlook, with analysts citing strong controls on costs and inventory.
Retailers collectively reported a 1% increase in September same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, according to an index of 39 major chains compiled by Lazard Capital Markets LLC. That's well below the 3.9% gain seen a year earlier and is among the weakest monthly showings by the industry in several years, said Todd Slater, an analyst at the New York investment firm." ....
for the complete story see:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119210162294155872.html?m
od=googlenews_wsj
Retailers Post Weak Sales,
Cut Growth Expectations
Wal-Mart Boosts Earnings Outlook
By JAMES COVERT
October 11, 2007 1:17 p.m.
"NEW YORK -- Retailers posted weaker-than-expected September sales, stoking worries that the housing slump and credit crunch will crimp spending during the crucial holiday season.
Blaming unusually balmy weather that quelled demand for fall fashions, department stores and apparel retailers reported some of the most disappointing results, with J.C. Penney Co., Nordstrom Inc. and Limited Brands Inc. all cutting their estimates for third-quarter profits. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., however, raised its earnings outlook, with analysts citing strong controls on costs and inventory.
Retailers collectively reported a 1% increase in September same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, according to an index of 39 major chains compiled by Lazard Capital Markets LLC. That's well below the 3.9% gain seen a year earlier and is among the weakest monthly showings by the industry in several years, said Todd Slater, an analyst at the New York investment firm." ....
for the complete story see:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119210162294155872.html?m
od=googlenews_wsj
Saturday, October 6, 2007
planning news
JAPA (Summer): women's travel/commuting choices; Phoenix heat island and water use
Western City (Aug): special issue on sustainability and green issues
Western City (Aug): special issue on sustainability and green issues
regional real estate news
New Orleans City Business (9/17): opinion piece on the Saints being crucial to NO's recovery
California Real Estate Journal (10/1): Irvine Co plans November reopening for Pelican Hill Golf Club resort on the Newport Coast
San Diego Business Journal (9/24): Qualcomm arena-area development proposes entertainment district elements -- residential, retail, office, hotel, conference center, etc.
San Diego Business Journal (10/1): San Diego Convention Center thinking about expanding
Los Angeles Business Journal (10/1): L.A. and Long Beach ports being rivaled by Mexican ports; Abu Dahbi company strikes deal with Warner Bros to bring Warner-branded themed elements to Abu Dhadi -- planned theme park, hotel, and multiplex cinemas
New Orleans City Business (9/24): #6 on top 10 tourist draws list -- Sugar Bowl
Crain's Chicago Business (9/24): Children's museum (actual article posted earlier from e source); retail rents down; suburban rents on the rise
California Real Estate Journal (9/24): Ontario (CA) construction and population; Ontario Mills going upscale; affordable housing crunch; OC residential construction trends
California Real Estate Journal (10/1): Irvine Co plans November reopening for Pelican Hill Golf Club resort on the Newport Coast
San Diego Business Journal (9/24): Qualcomm arena-area development proposes entertainment district elements -- residential, retail, office, hotel, conference center, etc.
San Diego Business Journal (10/1): San Diego Convention Center thinking about expanding
Los Angeles Business Journal (10/1): L.A. and Long Beach ports being rivaled by Mexican ports; Abu Dahbi company strikes deal with Warner Bros to bring Warner-branded themed elements to Abu Dhadi -- planned theme park, hotel, and multiplex cinemas
New Orleans City Business (9/24): #6 on top 10 tourist draws list -- Sugar Bowl
Crain's Chicago Business (9/24): Children's museum (actual article posted earlier from e source); retail rents down; suburban rents on the rise
California Real Estate Journal (9/24): Ontario (CA) construction and population; Ontario Mills going upscale; affordable housing crunch; OC residential construction trends
Misc news
Indian Country Today (10/3): Tribes unite in support of SBA 8a funds; Navajo power plant plans; economic impacts of Turning Stone Resort PGA stop
Tradeshow Week (10/1): doing tradeshow business in the EU; convention centers (L.A.) going green
Native American Casino (Oct): Odawa Casino Resort (MI); Four Winds Casino Resort (MI)
Retail Traffic (Sept): special section on CA; mall vacancies on the rise
IGWB (Sept): Macau and luxury real estate; new MA Indian casino approved for Middleborough
Tradeshow Week (10/1): doing tradeshow business in the EU; convention centers (L.A.) going green
Native American Casino (Oct): Odawa Casino Resort (MI); Four Winds Casino Resort (MI)
Retail Traffic (Sept): special section on CA; mall vacancies on the rise
IGWB (Sept): Macau and luxury real estate; new MA Indian casino approved for Middleborough
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Caribbean hotel and tourism studies
This week the Caribbean Hotel Association released its study on the impacts of taxes on the hotel and tourism sectors of the region's economy --
Caribbean hotel sector overtaxed in detriment of revenues for the wider economy
"Activities in the Caribbean tourism industry are unduly subjected to additional taxes not found in other sectors, such as room tax, import tax, and departure tax. This is according to the study entitled “Taxation and Tourism Costs for the Caribbean Hotel Sector,” undertaken under the Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Programme (CRSTDP) by PA Consulting Group, as part of technical assistance provided to the Caribbean Hotel Association with funding from the 8th European Development Fund (EDF). The study looked at the competitiveness of hotels in the Caribbean, in relation to their operating costs, taxation levels, and other non-cost barriers that negatively impact the tourism sector - focusing on four sample destinations: Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. The findings were released on Friday at the Caribbean Small Hotels Retreat held last week in Barbados.
The resulting report shows that most CARIFORUM countries have fiscal incentives for the establishment of hotels, which include exemption of corporate taxes, reduction or exemption from import duties on equipment, and reduction or exemption of duties on construction materials. However, the reduction in duties applies specifically to the construction phase and incentives often run between 5 to 15 years depending on the number of rooms the hotel is constructing. “On one hand, governments traditionally address the burden of high expenditures by applying taxation to leading sectors in the economy-more often than not, the tourism sector,” said CHA President Mr. Peter Odle. “By the same token, such an unfriendly fiscal climate makes our destinations less attractive as an investment opportunity and less attractive to visitors, which produces the exact opposite of the intended result of taxation in the first place. It begs the question: ‘Do these incentives, as they are, achieve their goals?’ " ...
for the complete press release see:
http://www.caribbeanhotelassociation.com/News.html
ERA has the report as well as its sister report The Caribbean: The Impact of Travel and Tourism on Jobs and the Economy
Caribbean hotel sector overtaxed in detriment of revenues for the wider economy
"Activities in the Caribbean tourism industry are unduly subjected to additional taxes not found in other sectors, such as room tax, import tax, and departure tax. This is according to the study entitled “Taxation and Tourism Costs for the Caribbean Hotel Sector,” undertaken under the Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Programme (CRSTDP) by PA Consulting Group, as part of technical assistance provided to the Caribbean Hotel Association with funding from the 8th European Development Fund (EDF). The study looked at the competitiveness of hotels in the Caribbean, in relation to their operating costs, taxation levels, and other non-cost barriers that negatively impact the tourism sector - focusing on four sample destinations: Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. The findings were released on Friday at the Caribbean Small Hotels Retreat held last week in Barbados.
The resulting report shows that most CARIFORUM countries have fiscal incentives for the establishment of hotels, which include exemption of corporate taxes, reduction or exemption from import duties on equipment, and reduction or exemption of duties on construction materials. However, the reduction in duties applies specifically to the construction phase and incentives often run between 5 to 15 years depending on the number of rooms the hotel is constructing. “On one hand, governments traditionally address the burden of high expenditures by applying taxation to leading sectors in the economy-more often than not, the tourism sector,” said CHA President Mr. Peter Odle. “By the same token, such an unfriendly fiscal climate makes our destinations less attractive as an investment opportunity and less attractive to visitors, which produces the exact opposite of the intended result of taxation in the first place. It begs the question: ‘Do these incentives, as they are, achieve their goals?’ " ...
for the complete press release see:
http://www.caribbeanhotelassociation.com/News.html
ERA has the report as well as its sister report The Caribbean: The Impact of Travel and Tourism on Jobs and the Economy
MGM casino-hotel nearing completion in CT
from yesterday's (CT) The Day --
MGM Grand 'Significantly Different' From Foxwoods
By Patricia Daddona
Published on 10/3/2007 in Home »Business »Business Local
"Mashantucket — When visitors leave slot machines at Foxwoods Resort Casino to sample food at a restaurant or browse shops there, they have to circumnavigate walls and traipse down long corridors.
At the new, $700 million MGM Grand at Foxwoods, scheduled to open in May, all paths lead from the casino outward to the restaurants and stores.
Modeled after Las Vegas casinos, where the gaming area is in the center of the building, the interior of the new MGM Grand has been designed by Wilson & Associates of Dallas, with the look and feel of Vegas in mind.
“The layout and design is much more the style of what you'd see in a Las Vegas casino,” said John O'Brien, president of both MGM Grand and Foxwoods." ...
"Soon to be marketed as Connecticut's third casino, MGM Grand will complement the Grand Pequot and Rainmaker casinos in Mashantucket in much the same way casinos in close proximity in Las Vegas do, O'Brien said. A covered, moving walkway will link the Grand Pequot Casino to MGM Grand.
“Within a relatively short walk, (visitors) will have the opportunity to experience two great properties,” said O'Brien — not only for gaming, but to get a taste of celebrity-chef restaurants, a spa, a theater and retail stores." ...
"Located on the reservation of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the MGM Grand will nonetheless be a separate, stand-alone property with its own entrance, O'Brien said." ...
"Chris O'Connell, director of hotel operations at MGM Grand, provided a glimpse of the work in progress during an exclusive tour Tuesday as more than 1,000 construction workers toiled on every aspect of the edifice.
Everything is bigger at the Grand, O'Connell said, pointing out the comparisons between MGM Grand and Foxwoods.
From the back entrance, which at present is more accessible than the front, the visitor enters a cavernous ballroom — the biggest in the Northeast at 48,800 square feet, O'Connell said. The room can be configured 12 different ways to accommodate everything from trade shows to exhibits to banquets — but so far it is still in the throes of construction. (Foxwoods' Grand Pequot ballroom is 25,000 square feet.) The ballroom contributes to a total of 115,000 square feet of meeting space, tripling the 55,000 square feet now available at Foxwoods, for a grand total of 170,000 square feet.
The 4,000-seat theater is almost three times the size of Foxwoods' 1,400-seat Fox Theater and larger than the 3,200-seat Fox Arena.
O'Brien said designers have also put more focus on the non-gaming side of the business at MGM Grand." ...
"Also featured is a two-floor nightclub that O'Brien hopes will attract that younger crowd. A 5,500-square-foot outdoor swimming pool, at this stage in its development still a massive hole in the ground, overlooks the hills of Ledyard. But soon it will be surrounded by eight cabanas and two whirlpools.
The 26-story hotel has 825 guest rooms planned with cutting-edge technology, such as Apple iHome clock radios, flat panel televisions and wireless high-speed Internet access.
The hotel rooms — still without electricity — range from 565 deluxe rooms measuring 388 square feet each to two, 2,352-square-foot “chairmen's suites” with large living areas, wet bars, butler pantries and bedrooms. Rooms on the west side offer spectacular views of the Connecticut hills." ...
"In the end, O'Brien said he thinks MGM Grand can attract both the day-tripper and the New York and Boston traveler for longer stays, since Foxwoods' hotels are filled to near capacity." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=01eaa39a-fbee-440e-b90
e-4746c7e0e90d
MGM Grand 'Significantly Different' From Foxwoods
By Patricia Daddona
Published on 10/3/2007 in Home »Business »Business Local
"Mashantucket — When visitors leave slot machines at Foxwoods Resort Casino to sample food at a restaurant or browse shops there, they have to circumnavigate walls and traipse down long corridors.
At the new, $700 million MGM Grand at Foxwoods, scheduled to open in May, all paths lead from the casino outward to the restaurants and stores.
Modeled after Las Vegas casinos, where the gaming area is in the center of the building, the interior of the new MGM Grand has been designed by Wilson & Associates of Dallas, with the look and feel of Vegas in mind.
“The layout and design is much more the style of what you'd see in a Las Vegas casino,” said John O'Brien, president of both MGM Grand and Foxwoods." ...
"Soon to be marketed as Connecticut's third casino, MGM Grand will complement the Grand Pequot and Rainmaker casinos in Mashantucket in much the same way casinos in close proximity in Las Vegas do, O'Brien said. A covered, moving walkway will link the Grand Pequot Casino to MGM Grand.
“Within a relatively short walk, (visitors) will have the opportunity to experience two great properties,” said O'Brien — not only for gaming, but to get a taste of celebrity-chef restaurants, a spa, a theater and retail stores." ...
"Located on the reservation of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the MGM Grand will nonetheless be a separate, stand-alone property with its own entrance, O'Brien said." ...
"Chris O'Connell, director of hotel operations at MGM Grand, provided a glimpse of the work in progress during an exclusive tour Tuesday as more than 1,000 construction workers toiled on every aspect of the edifice.
Everything is bigger at the Grand, O'Connell said, pointing out the comparisons between MGM Grand and Foxwoods.
From the back entrance, which at present is more accessible than the front, the visitor enters a cavernous ballroom — the biggest in the Northeast at 48,800 square feet, O'Connell said. The room can be configured 12 different ways to accommodate everything from trade shows to exhibits to banquets — but so far it is still in the throes of construction. (Foxwoods' Grand Pequot ballroom is 25,000 square feet.) The ballroom contributes to a total of 115,000 square feet of meeting space, tripling the 55,000 square feet now available at Foxwoods, for a grand total of 170,000 square feet.
The 4,000-seat theater is almost three times the size of Foxwoods' 1,400-seat Fox Theater and larger than the 3,200-seat Fox Arena.
O'Brien said designers have also put more focus on the non-gaming side of the business at MGM Grand." ...
"Also featured is a two-floor nightclub that O'Brien hopes will attract that younger crowd. A 5,500-square-foot outdoor swimming pool, at this stage in its development still a massive hole in the ground, overlooks the hills of Ledyard. But soon it will be surrounded by eight cabanas and two whirlpools.
The 26-story hotel has 825 guest rooms planned with cutting-edge technology, such as Apple iHome clock radios, flat panel televisions and wireless high-speed Internet access.
The hotel rooms — still without electricity — range from 565 deluxe rooms measuring 388 square feet each to two, 2,352-square-foot “chairmen's suites” with large living areas, wet bars, butler pantries and bedrooms. Rooms on the west side offer spectacular views of the Connecticut hills." ...
"In the end, O'Brien said he thinks MGM Grand can attract both the day-tripper and the New York and Boston traveler for longer stays, since Foxwoods' hotels are filled to near capacity." ...
for the complete story see:
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=01eaa39a-fbee-440e-b90
e-4746c7e0e90d
Indian gaming -- Orange County, CA
from yesterday's San Diego Union Tribune --
Is Orange Co. next stop for a big casino?
Indian band's likely business 'phenomenal' – if it gets OK
By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
October 3, 2007
"SACRAMENTO – Indian gaming may soon push into one of the nation's most populous metropolitan areas if federal officials agree to recognize the Juaneno Band of Orange County.
The tribe's petitions for federal recognition, which carries the coveted right to acquire a reservation and build a casino, have been pending before the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 25 years.
A tentative decision has been postponed three times in the past year but appears imminent. Last week, the bureau asked for an additional 60 days, promising to release its ruling by Nov. 26.
An advance of Indian casinos into Orange County could reshape the balance of economic power within Southern California's thriving gambling industry. Big, bustling casinos in already-competitive northern San Diego County, as well as those in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, depend on Orange and Los Angeles counties for a large share of their clientele." ....
"The Bureau of Indian Affairs' track record suggests that the Juaneno band faces discouraging odds in its bid to join the nation's 561 federally recognized tribes. Since the Secretary of Interior established strict acknowledgment criteria in 1978, just 16 of 40 tribes that have gone through the process have been granted recognition.
The process, which can take decades, also appears to have become more contentious and political as Indian gambling has exploded into a $25 billion industry, with $7.6 billion of that in California.
In the past five years, two Connecticut tribes – the Eastern Pequots and the Schaghticokes – have had the bureau tentatively grant recognition, only to deny it later in the face of state and local opposition.
California has 107 federally recognized tribes, nearly a fifth of the nation's total. More than 60 other Indian groups in the state, including three in San Diego County, are seeking federal recognition. None is as far along as the Juaneno, which split into at least three factions while its petition was pending." ...
"The revenue potential of an Indian casino in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which includes Orange County, is almost incalculable. With nearly 13 million people, the region is second only to the 18.8 million people who live in the New York metropolitan area.
Like Orange County, Los Angeles County also has no federally recognized tribes. The closest Indian casino is 65 miles east on the San Manuel reservation in suburban San Bernardino.
With that enviable location, San Manuel's 180 members operate one of the nation's most profitable casinos, with 2,000 slot machines. A new compact will allow the tribe to add up to 5,500 more slots next year." ...
For the complete story see:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20071003-9999-1n
3casino.html
Is Orange Co. next stop for a big casino?
Indian band's likely business 'phenomenal' – if it gets OK
By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
October 3, 2007
"SACRAMENTO – Indian gaming may soon push into one of the nation's most populous metropolitan areas if federal officials agree to recognize the Juaneno Band of Orange County.
The tribe's petitions for federal recognition, which carries the coveted right to acquire a reservation and build a casino, have been pending before the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 25 years.
A tentative decision has been postponed three times in the past year but appears imminent. Last week, the bureau asked for an additional 60 days, promising to release its ruling by Nov. 26.
An advance of Indian casinos into Orange County could reshape the balance of economic power within Southern California's thriving gambling industry. Big, bustling casinos in already-competitive northern San Diego County, as well as those in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, depend on Orange and Los Angeles counties for a large share of their clientele." ....
"The Bureau of Indian Affairs' track record suggests that the Juaneno band faces discouraging odds in its bid to join the nation's 561 federally recognized tribes. Since the Secretary of Interior established strict acknowledgment criteria in 1978, just 16 of 40 tribes that have gone through the process have been granted recognition.
The process, which can take decades, also appears to have become more contentious and political as Indian gambling has exploded into a $25 billion industry, with $7.6 billion of that in California.
In the past five years, two Connecticut tribes – the Eastern Pequots and the Schaghticokes – have had the bureau tentatively grant recognition, only to deny it later in the face of state and local opposition.
California has 107 federally recognized tribes, nearly a fifth of the nation's total. More than 60 other Indian groups in the state, including three in San Diego County, are seeking federal recognition. None is as far along as the Juaneno, which split into at least three factions while its petition was pending." ...
"The revenue potential of an Indian casino in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which includes Orange County, is almost incalculable. With nearly 13 million people, the region is second only to the 18.8 million people who live in the New York metropolitan area.
Like Orange County, Los Angeles County also has no federally recognized tribes. The closest Indian casino is 65 miles east on the San Manuel reservation in suburban San Bernardino.
With that enviable location, San Manuel's 180 members operate one of the nation's most profitable casinos, with 2,000 slot machines. A new compact will allow the tribe to add up to 5,500 more slots next year." ...
For the complete story see:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20071003-9999-1n
3casino.html
Monday, October 1, 2007
Selfridge Air Base area development deal struck (NJ)
from this morning's GlobeSt.
Beztak Scores $200M-Plus Base Project
By Robert Carr
"HARRISON TOWNSHIP, MI-Negotiations are expected to commence within days between the military and Communities by Beztak LLC to plan multifamily, office, hotel, industrial facilities, a restaurant and at least one marina at Selfridge Air National Guard Base here. The US Air Force, the Air National Guard, the US Army Corps of Engineers and base personnel have selected the company to lead and manage the commercial development of 670 acres around the 3,000-acre base. Bob Salomon, EVP for development for Beztak, tells GlobeSt.com that the project will likely cost in excess of $200 million.
The base has about 6,700 feet of frontage on Lake St. Clair. Since the Army is leaving the multi-force base due to base realignment, the Air Force has to open up some of the property to commercial use. The developer and the military will now negotiate a leasing and management plan for developing and leasing the property. The plan will involve a long-term government lease of the land." ....
" ....joining the firm on the project will be Signature Associates, civil engineering firm Woolpert Inc. and Total Golf Inc., which could act as the private manager of an included 170-acre golf course."
"The developments would go in three separate areas on and near the base, broken up in sections for 103 acres in the northeast, 200-acres on the southwest and the southeast corner of the base, which includes the golf course. On the north side, the development of office and flex could go outside of the base, but the developable land on the west (likely light industrial) and southeast corners are within the base perimeter. The future tenants that could go on the base would likely be military contractors that can get through the security gate. “One of the prime concerns is the Department of Defense security mission,” Salomon says."
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1003_1003/detroit/164561-1.html
Beztak Scores $200M-Plus Base Project
By Robert Carr
"HARRISON TOWNSHIP, MI-Negotiations are expected to commence within days between the military and Communities by Beztak LLC to plan multifamily, office, hotel, industrial facilities, a restaurant and at least one marina at Selfridge Air National Guard Base here. The US Air Force, the Air National Guard, the US Army Corps of Engineers and base personnel have selected the company to lead and manage the commercial development of 670 acres around the 3,000-acre base. Bob Salomon, EVP for development for Beztak, tells GlobeSt.com that the project will likely cost in excess of $200 million.
The base has about 6,700 feet of frontage on Lake St. Clair. Since the Army is leaving the multi-force base due to base realignment, the Air Force has to open up some of the property to commercial use. The developer and the military will now negotiate a leasing and management plan for developing and leasing the property. The plan will involve a long-term government lease of the land." ....
" ....joining the firm on the project will be Signature Associates, civil engineering firm Woolpert Inc. and Total Golf Inc., which could act as the private manager of an included 170-acre golf course."
"The developments would go in three separate areas on and near the base, broken up in sections for 103 acres in the northeast, 200-acres on the southwest and the southeast corner of the base, which includes the golf course. On the north side, the development of office and flex could go outside of the base, but the developable land on the west (likely light industrial) and southeast corners are within the base perimeter. The future tenants that could go on the base would likely be military contractors that can get through the security gate. “One of the prime concerns is the Department of Defense security mission,” Salomon says."
for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1003_1003/detroit/164561-1.html
Chicago housing market
from this morning's Crain's Chicago Business news wire
Housing bust puts a boomtown on hold
By Eddie Baeb
Oct. 01, 2007
"Two years after breaking ground on one of the biggest planned developments in the Chicago area — almost 4,000 homes, a country club and shopping center in fast-growing Kendall County — a Virginia-based developer has yet to sell a homesite and faces a foreclosure lawsuit.
A lender on the 1,175-acre Westbury project in Yorkville is seeking to recoup $4.7 million from Ocean Atlantic Development Corp., and the city is mulling legal action over the developer's unpaid $500,000 bill for infrastructure work.
Similar situations are playing out around the Chicago area amid home sales that have fallen for 17 straight months. Many homebuilders have stopped buying new building sites from developers like Alexandria, Va.-based Ocean Atlantic and have even walked away from pending deals as they struggle to sell off existing inventory as home sales plummet." ....
"Things are particularly acute in far-flung suburbs undergoing dramatic growth like Yorkville, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The town's population has grown to almost 16,000 from 6,189 in 2000. But the housing slowdown prompted the city in July to cut its population projection for 2012 by almost 25% to 43,769.
Just north of Yorkville, in Sugar Grove, another mega-development that was to include 2,100 homes and land for a new city hall and library was scrapped last year by Neumann Homes Inc., prompting a lawsuit from a suburban Detroit investment firm that was to sell the land to Neumann. The developer's CEO, Kenneth Neumann, didn't return calls for comment." ...
for the complete story and a wonderful pair of graphs see:
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=28
519
Housing bust puts a boomtown on hold
By Eddie Baeb
Oct. 01, 2007
"Two years after breaking ground on one of the biggest planned developments in the Chicago area — almost 4,000 homes, a country club and shopping center in fast-growing Kendall County — a Virginia-based developer has yet to sell a homesite and faces a foreclosure lawsuit.
A lender on the 1,175-acre Westbury project in Yorkville is seeking to recoup $4.7 million from Ocean Atlantic Development Corp., and the city is mulling legal action over the developer's unpaid $500,000 bill for infrastructure work.
Similar situations are playing out around the Chicago area amid home sales that have fallen for 17 straight months. Many homebuilders have stopped buying new building sites from developers like Alexandria, Va.-based Ocean Atlantic and have even walked away from pending deals as they struggle to sell off existing inventory as home sales plummet." ....
"Things are particularly acute in far-flung suburbs undergoing dramatic growth like Yorkville, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The town's population has grown to almost 16,000 from 6,189 in 2000. But the housing slowdown prompted the city in July to cut its population projection for 2012 by almost 25% to 43,769.
Just north of Yorkville, in Sugar Grove, another mega-development that was to include 2,100 homes and land for a new city hall and library was scrapped last year by Neumann Homes Inc., prompting a lawsuit from a suburban Detroit investment firm that was to sell the land to Neumann. The developer's CEO, Kenneth Neumann, didn't return calls for comment." ...
for the complete story and a wonderful pair of graphs see:
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=28
519
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