Big Bets On Long Shot

When two PowerPoint wielding developers from Colorado and Las Vegas came to a Milford Board of Selectmen meeting in October to pitch the idea of Crossroads, a resort-style casino in town, state Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford, said they were not shunned out the door.

“We welcomed them and listened to their ideas,” Fernandes said.

But, that doesn’t mean townspeople don’t have some serious questions about a casino, hotel and spa being built in their backyards.

While sitting listening to the developers a host of questions ran through Fernandes’ mind, including what the impact of such a development would be on traffic, water and sewer connections, police and fire coverage.

And one other thing: The state legislature hasn’t even approved allowing casinos in the state. In fact, last year lawmakers shot it down.

Nonetheless, developers are staking out their ground in Central Massachusetts in case expanded gaming is approved in the state in 2010.

The Players

David Nunes is a real estate developer and president and founder of Ajax Gaming Ventures in Colorado, which previously teamed up with a company tied to Donald Trump to lobby for a casino in Rhode Island. That bid was unsuccessful. Nunes said he has strong ties to New England and has been thinking about expanded gaming in the commonwealth for a decade. He also said Milford’s position near the intersection of the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 495 makes it an ideal spot for Crossroads, his idea of a resort-style casino.

Nunes has partnered with Bill Warner, a former COO of Station Casinos, a Las Vegas gaming company. The developers have a conceptual plan for an $850 million, more than 200-acre casino, complete with 3,000 slot machines and 100 table games.

“While the state is working on the legislation, we’re working on…a development team, putting a contractor in place and getting a gaming flag so when that legislation does come out we’re ready and capable of building,” he said.

Meanwhile, Penn National Gaming, a gaming company from Pennsylvania, has been in touch with some Central Massachusetts officials about a possible casino in the Blackstone Valley. Officials from Penn National Gaming did not return calls from the Worcester Business Journal for this story.

Still, no casinos or any expanded gaming will be allowed in the state without approval from the state legislature.

One area politician that could have a strong say in what happens on Beacon Hill with casino legislation is Karen Spilka, a democratic state senator from Ashland. She chairs the legislature’s economic development committee, which in October held a full day of hearings on expanded gaming.

Legislation on gaming will have to pass through her committee.

But Spilka said she would like to see some more work done before the issue is even considered.

“I think clearly different casino interests are trying to stake out different geographic locations. They want to be somewhat on the ready,” Spilka said. “But at this point, I would have some concerns about transportation access, environmental issues, just what would be involved in building a casino. So much needs to be figured out before any decisions can be made.”

For example, last year the state hired a New Jersey research company, Spectrum Gaming, to study what the impact of having gaming in the state would be.

The group estimated that significant revenue and jobs could be generated if three resort-style casinos were built in the state. That included $1.5 billion in gross gaming revenue, more than 4,000 direct jobs at each casino, and an overall impact of 20,000 direct and indirect jobs statewide.

But the economy has changed drastically since then, Spilka argues, and she said the first step toward any passage of expanded gaming is a new study showing the impacts.

Until new information is available, Spilka said she’s neutral on the issue.

Another important factor will be to get approval from the municipalities that would be impacted by a casino. Not just the host community, but surrounding communities as well.

Crossroads’ conceptual plans call for it to sit just north of Interstate 495, within a few miles of the town of Holliston.

“I think the (immediate) reaction was, what about the traffic?” said Paul LeBeau, Holliston’s town administrator. “The scale of the project suggests it could have a significant impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.”

While legislation proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick last year to allow casinos created a trust fund that would help host communities mitigate incurred expenses due to a casino, there were no such protections for surrounding communities.

LeBeau said he’s not against casinos, he just said it’s premature to really think about it.

Some state residents seem philosophically opposed to casinos, however.

Kathleen Conley Norbut is the president of United to Stop Slots, a Massachusetts group studying the impact casinos could have on local communities.

She’s put together a list of 27 factors that should be considered before gaming is allowed. The environment, traffic and water infrastructure systems will not be the only things impacted, according to that list. The schools will need to be updated for new children of workers that will be in the area, and lottery money, which is given back to cities and towns in unrestricted aid, will decline, she argues.

Not to mention what she calls the “human impact” of gambling addiction.

“What we’re really asking is for (legislators) to do their due diligence and make an impartial, informed decision on the costs and the benefits, and weigh those against the human impacts,” she said.

Some say casinos coming to the state could actually help, not hurt, businesses.

Thomas Sherridan is president of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, whose membership area includes Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, two of New England’s largest resort-style casinos.

“Overall, the impact has been positive,” he said. “There’s been a significant growth in the business community. Just think about the amount of people they hold and room every night, and the amount of people that eat there or in the area. Goods and services businesses have done quite well.”

It’s not all good, however.

Two casinos within a few miles of each other has created inconvenient traffic issues for the towns, he said. He said it’s natural for businesses to be worried about new competition opening in the region.

But, he said, he believes the casinos have raised the quality of services delivered in the region.

For example, the casinos have some “top-shelf” restaurants.

In response, local restaurants have increased their quality to compete with the casinos. That makes a better product for customers.

Plus, he said, numerous fast food chains, hotels and motels have opened in the area and employees of the casino are now contributing tax dollars to the state.