Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia partners lose appeal in bid to recoup $50M fee
A federal judge has upheld a bankruptcy court’s rejection of a development group’s bid to recoup the $50 million licensing fee it paid for the ill-fated Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia project, which never got off the ground.
The Mashantucket Tribe’s Foxwoods Development Co. had a nearly one-third stake in the group, known as Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners. Most of the rest of the partners were Philadelphia-area businessmen.
Judge Joseph Leeson Jr., in a decision filed this week in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, denied PEDP’s appeal of an April 2016 opinion issued by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge. PEDP had filed for bankruptcy in 2014, and claimed the state of Pennsylvania and its Department of Revenue had “improperly” refused to return the licensing fee after the Foxwoods license was revoked.
In 2006, PEDP won one of two casino licenses awarded for Philadelphia. Amid delays in launching the project, the partnership paid the $50 million licensing fee in 2007, but local opposition and years of regulatory setbacks ensued. Eventually, the investors sought a new partner to replace the financially troubled tribe.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board granted a two-year extension of PEDP’s original license in 2009, then revoked it in December 2010 after the developers missed a series of deadlines for submitting plans and financial information. The board eventually sought a new round of bids for the license.
Sugar House Casino, whose developers won the second Philadelphia license in 2006, opened in 2010.
A license for a second Philadelphia casino was awarded in 2014. The project has yet to materialize.
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