UPDATED: East Hartford firm urges tribes to pursue 'temporary' casino in Hartford area
Citing revenue estimates in a new report, the developers pitching an East Hartford casino site called Monday for the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to consider seeking state legislative approval for a “temporary” Hartford-area casino in advance of the permanent one the tribes hope to build.
In a news release, Silver Lane Partners, which controls a former Showcase Cinemas property off Interstate 84, stressed the importance of opening an interim facility before the $950 million MGM Springfield resort casino debuts in late 2018.
“Relative to protecting jobs and revenue here in Connecticut, we have long maintained that ‘speed to market’ matters in responding to the competitive threat posed by MGM,” Tony Ravosa, Silver Lane’s managing member, said. “Simply put, we believe it would be a huge mistake for the tribes and state to allow MGM to gain a head start and unchallenged initial foothold in the Greater Hartford market — even for a brief period of time.”
MMCT Venture, the tribes’ partnership, is considering site proposals from five municipalities — East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford, South Windsor and Windsor Locks — willing to host a $200 million to $300 million “satellite” casino to ward off MGM Springfield’s impact on Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun.
An MMCT spokesman declined to comment on the notion of a temporary facility.
The new report, which Philadelphia-based CBRE Inc. prepared for Silver Lane Partners, estimates a temporary Hartford-area casino with 1,250 slot machines would yield $148.3 million in annual slots winnings. A quarter of that, or $37.1 million, would go to the state under the terms of the revenue-sharing agreements that now apply to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.
About 83 percent of the total slots win would be displaced revenue from the two existing casinos, according to the report. The remaining 17 percent would come from business generated among new patrons from central and western Connecticut, new patrons from western Massachusetts and overnight hotel guests staying in the Hartford area.
While acknowledging that MGM Springfield will further shrink the existing casinos’ revenues, the CBRE report estimates that a permanent gaming facility in the Hartford area — with 2,000 slot machines and 150 table games — will generate “year one” win of nearly $263 million, with a minimum revenue return to the state of $44.5 million.
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