Slots Developers Kick Off Talks With Worcester Officials

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Steve Balestrieri, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Officials from Mass Gaming and Entertainment, LLC as well as their parent company, Rush Street Gaming, met with local Worcester public officials on Wednesday afternoon, setting the stage for a proposal for the Commonwealth's sole slots parlor license.

Chicago-based casino and real estate developer Neil G. Bluhm accompanied by Greg Carlin, CEO of Rush Street Gaming, met with city officials and spoke to members of the media for a brief time during their meeting.

After introducing his partner for 27 years, Worcester-born Steve Lovelette, who works in the real estate side of the business, Bluhm said, "We're here introducing ourselves, who we are, and what we're looking to do."

"We've been in the real estate business for 40 years," Bluhm said, noting that he's done business many times in Massachusetts and is 50 percent owner of Fanueil Hall in Boston.

Bluhm added, "we've built the only casino in Pittsburgh and the only casino in Philadelphia and the only casino in the Cook County Chicago area."

Asked how many slots-only parlors they operate, Carlin answered, "Pittsburgh was a slots-only parlor when it opened, then they changed the laws and it became a fully operational casino. This will be our only slots-only parlor in Worcester."

Carlin noted that when considering a gaming operation, they consider a 30-minute drive as its operational area, and the Worcester area would encompass up to 750,000 people.

When asked about the slots-only parlor becoming a full-blown casino, Carlin dismissed the idea.

"No, the law is the law and right now we're underwriting this project with the idea that it will be a slots only parlor."

Richard L. Friedman, President and CEO of Carpenter & Company, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a private firm involved in real estate is planning on building a hotel nearby.

"Worcester is in dire need of quality hotels, first-class, high end with meeting rooms," he said.

"If the casino can help build a first class hotel then that's what we want to do," Friedman added. He said the plans are to build a 150-200 room hotel.

Friedman added a final note, "the urban re-development will blossom along with the Kelly Square and the Canal area and this should greatly benefit the city. It won't be apart from but be part of the city."

Carlin was asked when the public would be allowed to see the plans of the casino, and he responded, "We've been working hard on the plans, we are very respectful of the Worcester architecture and want it to fit in with the fabric of the city, and will publish those soon."

Earlier, six-term City Councilor Philip P. Palmieri spoke with media members prior to the meeting and said he had questions about who the developers were and wanted to meet them and find out not only more about them but what their plans were after the initial parlors were in place.

When Palmieri exited just prior to the developers, he spoke in a hopeful light about the developers and their plan. "They're real professionals without question," Palmieri said. "They own property around the country, some serious real estate with Copley Place and others."

He stated that their plan looked good.

Rush Street Gaming is a Chicago, Ill.-based gaming company with casinos in Des Plaines, Ill., and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa.

The proposed project could bring over $200 million in local investment and the creation of close to 600 jobs in the form of a slot parlor and hotel to the Wyman-Gordon property off of Southbridge St..