Sugarhouse to host vendor and job preview

SugarHouse Gaming to Host Casino Career and Vendor Forums in Philadelphia
Seminars to Provide Overview of Opportunities in the Gaming Industry SugarHouse Gaming, one of the applicants for a Category Two Slot Machine license in Philadelphia, announced it will host a special event to detail the career opportunities available as a result of the Gaming Act.

The Casino Career Forum will be held:
October 3, 2006
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Shissler Recreation Center
1800 Blair Street
Philadelphia, PA

The forum will detail career opportunities in the casino industry and provide an overview of the available positions in casinos to be approved in the Commonwealth.
The briefing will include a 30-minute presentation outlining general necessary training and types of jobs available in the casino industry. The presentation will provide an overview of employment in the casino industry, including general job requirements, types of positions that will be available when the casinos open and salary ranges. In addition, community members will have an opportunity to network with executives from SugarHouse.
"We're very eager to meet with local community members and discuss the many opportunities that will be available once gaming comes to Philadelphia," said Jerry Johnson, partner, SugarHouse Gaming. "The industry will bring thousands of employees to the Philadelphia area - clearly, once casinos are licensed there will be an abundance of opportunity."
SugarHouse Gaming is partnering with community groups in the nearby neighborhoods to create and produce the event.
Additionally, SugarHouse will also host a Vendor Forum for businesses interested in serving as a supplier to the proposed slot machine facilities in Pennsylvania.

The Vendor Forum will be held:
October 4, 2006
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Hyatt - Penn's Landing
Philadelphia, PA

Representatives from SugarHouse Gaming and minority suppliers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware will discuss the procurement process in the casino industry and the types of opportunities that will be available to local area businesses.
Both the Career and Vendor Forums will be sponsored by SugarHouse Gaming, demonstrating its commitment to the community and dedication to creating a world-class entertainment complex in the city of Philadelphia.


About SugarHouse Gaming
SugarHouse Gaming is a limited partnership created to bring gaming to Philadelphia. Collectively, the partners bring more than 100 years of development and community experience to the project, having developed, constructed, and operated casinos, luxury hotels, and other hospitality businesses around the world, including Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Water Tower Place in Chicago, Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing, and many Four Seasons Hotels including Philadelphia, Chicago, and Sydney, Australia.

For more information please visit http://www.sugarhousecasino.com or SugarhousePA.com

PA Casinos - tax revenue and relief

Pennsylvania's slot machines will bring in more -- not less -- than $1 billion a year for property tax relief, a state Revenue Department official said Thursday.
That contradicts the findings of a secret study commissioned by the state Gaming Control Board, which predicts casinos at six tracks will make $365 million a year less than applicants projected.
But that study looks at "worst-case" scenarios, said Revenue Department spokesman Steve Kniley. The regional market for casino gambling has gotten stronger since the department calculated its first projections in 2004, he said.
"If anything, the '$1 billion for property tax relief' estimate is even more viable today," Kniley wrote in an e-mail.
The state anticipates collecting at least $1.074 billion a year to offset property taxes, from slot machines that would raise $3.16 billion, Kniley said.
The state will get $610 million in one-time license fees from casino operators.
"Our estimate is based on a conservative estimate of the number of machines," Kniley said. "... It uses a gross terminal revenue estimate that was conservative at the time, and is more conservative today."
Kniley did not offer specific numbers regarding growth in the regional market for slots since 2004, but said averages were $265 per machine in August.
The gambling law -- passed on the promise of lowering property taxes -- sets aside 54 percent of the money from slot machines for the state. Thirty-four percent of the total would go toward property tax reduction, 10 percent to the horse-racing industry, 5 percent to a statewide development fund, and the rest would be divided among casino host communities.
It's "not realistic" to add up the results for individual casinos that were estimated by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the gambling board's study, because it factors in competition from every casino applicant -- and they won't all receive licenses, board Chairman Tad Decker said Wednesday.
That study predicts 15,750 slot machines at tracks will bring in an average of $189 a day, versus the $252 daily average projected by applicants.
"It's a bogus effort," Decker said. "Those reports were looking at individual applicants and taking competition for that applicant, potential competition."
To reach $1 billion a year in property tax reduction, the Revenue Department counted on 37,000 slot machines taking in an average of $230 a day, plus another 1,000 slot machines at resorts making an average of $150 daily. State law allows for up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 casinos.
"We don't have any reason to suspect (the Revenue Department's projections) aren't right," Decker said.
The state's assurances regarding property tax relief came as critics of the gambling law said they want to see more changes than those included in a reform bill unanimously approved by the Senate Wednesday.
The Senate version would subject the gambling board to the state's Right to Know Law, require it to submit budgets for legislative review and give the state Attorney General's Office power to investigate gambling-related crimes.
Lawmakers also should require casinos to send monthly statements to gamblers, abide by stiff self-exclusion rules to keep out problem gamblers and close for at least several hours daily, said Bruce Barron, president of No Dice, a Bethel Park-based anti-gambling group.
"For (legislators) to try to ram changes through, this will never be a good law," said Dianne Berlin, the coordinator of CasinoFree PA. "It may be made a little better, but it will never be a good law. There are just too many things wrong with it."
House members reviewed the Senate bill while preparing to make their own changes to the slots law, said Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republicans. Members could vote on a reform bill as early as next week.

Bally is slot manufacturer of choice

When it comes to supplying the state's racetracks with casino-management systems, Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies Inc. is emerging as the vendor of choice.Today, the company announced an agreement with Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre to provide the system that will run the racino's gambling floor, expected to open next month. It will also provide more than 200 slot machines.So far, Bally has been picked to provide casino-management systems by three of the six racetracks that will be among the first places to offer slots gambling in the state. Philadelphia Park in Bensalem and Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack have also chosen Bally.The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will decide at its meeting Wednesday on awarding conditional licenses permitting the addition of slot machines at six racetracks. Permanent licenses will be voted on for 14 slots parlors by the end of the year.The other racetracks seeking slot machines are the Meadows near Pittsburgh, Presque Isle Downs in Erie, and Penn National in Grantville, near Harrisburg.On Friday, Harrah's spokesman Jason Birney said the Chester racino was also selecting Bally for its slots technology and as a provider of some of its slot machines. The casino at the $400 million property is scheduled to open in January with 2,750 slot machines.On Aug. 16, Bally announced it had signed a contract with Greenwood Racing Inc. to provide the system to manage its casino at Philadelphia Park.In July 2004, Pennsylvania legalized slot-machine gambling for 14 locations across the state. Delays followed, including a court challenge that brought the licensing process to a standstill for half a year, and a nine-month stand-off over slot distributorships.Bally, founded in 1932, designs, manufactures, operates and distributes gaming devices, systems and technology worldwide. The biggest designer and maker of slot machines, International Game Technology, and number-two Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. are its main competitors.Mohegan Sun purchased the Pocono Downs Racetrack from Penn National Gaming Inc. in early 2005. The Mohegan Indian tribe has owned a successful casino resort in Uncasville, Conn., for nearly 10 years."We thought there would be some beneficial synergies by using the same system as our Mohegan property in Connecticut," said Robert Soper, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.Soper said the first phase of the Pocono Downs racino would open next month with 1,081 slot machines in a renovated area. The tribe plans to construct a new building to accommodate up to 2,000 slots.

Slots coming to PA!

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved the state's first casino licenses on Wednesday, paving the way for slots parlors to open as soon as mid-November.

In what board Chairman Tad Decker called a ''historical moment'' and Gov. Ed Rendell ''a major milestone,'' the seven-member board unanimously agreed to temporarily license five of the six racetracks hoping to operate casinos.

They are Pocono Downs, just outside Wilkes-Barre; Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Bucks County; Chester Downs in Delaware County; Penn National in Grantville, Dauphin County; and The Meadows in suburban Pittsburgh.

Pocono Downs could open as early as November, making it the first slots parlor in the state. Philadelphia Park and Chester Downs, which have said they could open in December and January respectively, are considered the other top contenders for opening Pennsylvania's first casino.

After two years of lawsuits, infighting and other delays, the license approvals propelled the state's plan to use tax revenues from slot machines to revive Pennsylvania's horse-racing industry and offset property taxes. In 2004, lawmakers legalized up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 venues statewide.

''The Gaming Control Board's action is a major milestone,'' Rendell said in a written statement. ''The approval of these conditional licenses is a clear sign to all homeowners that property tax relief is on the way.''

Rendell has predicted the slots tax will generate $3 billion for property tax relief. Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann has criticized the Democrat for not delivering more.

Most tracks have begun preparations for slots.

Before temporary licenses are issued, the casinos must meet such requirements as paying a $50 million licensing fee. Additionally, the board put ''special'' conditions on some. Pocono Downs, for instance, must provide the state more information on when it will move from a temporary to a permanent facility.

Permanent licenses for the racetracks, as well as for resort casinos and stand-alone parlors such as those proposed for the Poconos and Lehigh Valley, are expected to be approved Dec. 20.

Who wants to build what in PA?

Visit here to see who wants to build what in PA

How the PA Casinos Began...

In 2004, the Pennsylvania state legislature legalized slots gambling, creating 14 licenses that are expected to produce $1 billion in revenue. Lawmakers said the money would be used to fund statewide property tax reductions. As of February 2006, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board had received 25 applications for these licenses. The agency has said that it would issue conditional licenses for six racetracks late in the summer and permanent licenses for all parlors by early 2007.

Unfortunately for Philadelphia, it can't completely control the location of its future casinos. The state-run Gaming Control Board will make the decision, probably in the fall of 2006.

Visit here to see who wants to build what in PA

Sands Bethworks and Behtlehem - a great deal

These days, it takes a billion — at least.For the first time, Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans consists exclusively of people worth $1 billion or more. As a group, the people who made the rankings released Thursday are worth a record $1.25 trillion, compared to $1.13 trillion last year.

In the billionaire-athon, Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands Corp. pole-vaulted to No. 3 from 15 in last year's ranking, finishing behind the mainstays at Nos. 1 and 2: Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Las Vegas Sands is part of a development team that wants to build a $879 million entertainment district in Bethlehem. Plans include museums, shops, apartments and a casino of 5,000 slot machines on former Bethlehem Steel land.

SugarhousePA - A very sweet deal!

There have been a lot of business endeavors that have had the fortune of being referred to as "a sweet deal" but none quite so literally as the Chicago based gambling company, Sugar House Gaming, that just purchased the location for its next $450 million slot machine parlor, a former sugar refinery on the Bank of the Delaware River. Even without the help of this fortunate pun on the "sweet" theme the property really is pretty desirable, with eighteen waterfront acres, it is going to be the perfect spot for Sugar House Casino's four casual dining restaurants and one fine dining restaurant, a 500-room hotel, and 3,000 slot machines.

The addition of a casino of this caliber is exciting for the area given the recent legalization of slot-machine gambling in the state of Pennsylvania. There are going to be fourteen different venues that will feature the new licenses and the deadline is coming to a close for who the state will award them to. Billionaire Neil Bluhm, owner of sugar house gaming, has been known as one of Chicago's most shrewd real estate developers and is not looking to change his luck when it comes to the world of slot machines. The price that he bought the land for is still not disclosed, but the odds of him making a good bit in return on his investment are looking pretty good.

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.

Bethlehem vote sets zoning area for gambling

Early-morning action means a slots casino would be permitted.

anyone believed Bethlehem left the door open to any possibility of a gambling ban, City Council effectively slammed it shut it early Wednesday morning.In a 5-2 vote at 1:10 a.m., council agreed to remove any ambiguity on whether gambling is allowed in the zoning district that covers the former Bethlehem Steel plant.

Economic development has been a key argument as Bethlehem publicly struggled over the past year to answer the question as to whether a casino should come to the Christmas City. A development team, including Las Vegas Sands of Nevada, is vying for a slots license that, it says, would drive the construction of a casino and entertainment district at the former plant. Those 124 acres, between the Fahy and Minsi Trail bridges, have languished for years despite the city's best efforts to market them to developers.BethWorks Now's plan includes a $879 million entertainment district of museums, shops, apartments and a casino of 5,000 slot machines wrapped around a collection of restored Steel buildings.

Besides the city signing off on the zoning, the developers must go through a licensing hearing Nov. 6 before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. That board is expected to award stand-alone slots licenses Dec. 20.

Bethlehem approves zoning for slots

The majority of Bethlehem City Council is willing to roll the dice that a casino will jump-start the redevelopment at the former Bethlehem Steel plant but council is not taking any chances with the nuisance businesses that may try to open near a slots casino.Pawn shops, check-cashing businesses, massage parlors and other adult-oriented businesses would have to stay at least 5,000 feet — nearly a mile — from the slots casino and adhere to a list of restrictions according to the proposal council supported early today with a vote of 5-2.

Council also voted to amend the zoning laws to allow gambling in the industrial redevelopment district which covers the 124 acres of the former plant where developers want to put a casino.

BethWorks Sands Gaming is one of six players competing for two slots licenses the state will award for stand-alone casinos outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In Allentown, Aztar Corp. hopes to build a Tropicana hotel and casino.