Trumpstreet in Philly

The state Gaming Control Board will hold the first in a series of public hearings to review the five applications for Philadelphia's two available slots licenses. The hearings are a rare opportunity for residents to see what the five aspiring operators are offering, and to voice their comments, before the state picks the two lucky license winners late this year.
From the documents released so far, it seems Philadelphians should prepare to be underwhelmed. While there are differences among the five proposals, none looks much like an urban building. The proposed structures could easily be mistaken for a movie multiplex or a suburban shopping mall.

That is more or less the case with TrumpStreet, the first of the five slots proposals I'll examine over the next few months, during the run-up to the gaming board's final decision.
For some, the relative modesty of the designs will come as a relief. There's no need to worry about Philadelphia becoming Vegas-on-the-Delaware. The gaming operators have no intention of erecting neon-draped hotel skyscrapers. In fact, they don't intend to bother with hotels, period. There will be no frothy fantasies of Parisian boulevards, no lumbering Venetian canals, no spa-style resorts.

Philadelphia may be the biggest city in America to allow gambling, but its casinos will be strictly small-time, thanks to state-imposed restrictions.

TrumpStreet stands apart from its four competitors because it wasn't seduced by the lure of the Delaware River. Instead, the slots house, which is sort of an outlet-mall version of Trump Entertainment Resort's three glitzy Atlantic City venues, looks west toward Philadelphia's suburban neighbors. To capture customers from that market, TrumpStreet would take up residence near the confluence of Route 76 and Roosevelt Expressway, in the derelict industrial belt that once housed Budd Manufacturing Co.

Choosing that scruffy site at Henry and Roberts Avenues was both a brilliant move by Trump and a big gamble. While the riverfront casinos will have to struggle to look good next to the sleek condo city sprouting on the north Delaware, Trump's nostalgic, neo-industrial vision absolutely glows in comparison with manufacturing scraps on the Budd site. The company can legitimately claim to be improving the neighborhood - or, rather, one patch of it.

So how will TrumpStreet spend its $350 million? The company's design starting point is the site's historic industrial legacy, especially the stainless-steel Moderne look of Budd's Zephyr cars. The design also calls for three stylized, neon-lit smokestack towers - the better to beckon gamblers - and a food area shaped like a railroad roundhouse. The proposal includes three movie screens, a faux farmers market, and a 100-seat music venue. If the slots house prospers, TrumpStreet could add a 1,500-seat auditorium and a small hotel.

Oddly enough, after two years of talk and worry about the impact of legalized gambling on Philadelphia, what the low-slung TrumpStreet resembles most is a better-than-average, retail-lifestyle center. There's some dining, some shopping and some entertainment. It just happens that the entertainment is slot machines.