Riverfront casino hopefuls sweeten deal
Wilmington project now includes high-rise condominiums, town houses
THE DETAILS
A proposal to expand a $300 million Christina Riverfront project would add two condominium towers with a total of 160 units and 50 town homes to the previously announced casino and hotel. The new proposal encompasses 15 acres of land and a third of a mile of waterfront property. The casino and 250-room hotel that originally were proposed for the project would move to the east end of the A Street parcel on land that is occupied by the Delaware Humane Association's animal shelter.
By STEVEN CHURCH
The News Journal
03/28/2006
Investors hoping to win state approval for a casino on Wilmington's Riverfront said they will expand their project, adding 210 condominiums and town homes on the Christina River.
Developer H. Hunter Lott III also said that he will continue pushing legislation to enable his partnership to build a hotel and casino across from the Wilmington train station at South Walnut Street. But the $300 million project, to be known as Riverfest, will now include residential units that will be built whether or not the Delaware General Assembly votes to expand gambling.
Construction on the housing would not start for at least a year, and no price has been set for the units, the developer said.
Lott's development group, Delaware Program, is working with a rival casino hopeful, Diamond Entertainment Group LLC, on efforts to change Delaware law so that both groups can build casinos. Diamond would like to put a casino on 40 acres on Wilmington's Seventh Street Peninsula between the Christina River and the Brandywine.
Diamond Entertainment lawyer and spokeswoman Claire M. DeMatteis said that the company also has a new, expanded vision for its project that the firm will unveil next week.
In January, Rep. Joe Di Pinto, R-Wilmington West, introduced a bill in the Delaware General Assembly that would legalize gambling at the two locations. A similar bill failed to get enough votes last year to make it out of the House Gaming and Parimutuels Committee.
Lott and DeMatteis both say that this year's version stands a better chance because lawmakers are beginning to realize that they need to do more to protect the state's gambling industry from competition from Pennsylvania later this year and potential competition from Maryland.
Both casino projects will face a political fight, both from Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, who has said she opposes any new casinos, and from lawmakers who back the three existing slots parlors.
A third casino project, which would have been on a barge in the Delaware River near Penns Grove, N.J., is no longer part of the bill being advocated by Diamond and Delaware Program.
The leading partner in the Penns Grove effort is now part of the Diamond group, said Joseph Petrilli, a lobbyist for Diamond.
The land deal Lott announced Monday boosts the size of the project to 15 acres along the Christina River with about a third of a mile of waterfront. The new proposal includes two condominium towers with 80 units each and 50 town houses.
The casino and 250-room hotel would move to the east end of the parcel, which is occupied by the Delaware Humane Association's animal shelter. J. Kevin Usilton, executive director of the Humane Association, said that the nonprofit group is looking for a new property to replace the 7,000-square-foot building it will eventually vacate. It will take the association about two years to move into a new home, Usilton said.
Lott and his partners agreed to buy the animal shelter property last year. That deal will close in October, Lott said.
Clarence White, who has run an auto body shop in the nearby community of Southbridge for 38 years, said nearby business owners are excited about the idea of bringing more shops, condominiums and a casino to the south side of the Christina.
"That is going to be one of the greatest things that has happened in this area for 30 years," White said.
Bringing a casino to the area would bring much-needed jobs to an area that is struggling with unemployment, White said.
Earlier this year, lawmakers agreed to boost the number of slot machines in the state and allow 24-hour gambling, but did not even consider calls for new casinos. There are only three casinos in Delaware, each located at a horse-racing track.
DeMatteis said that this year she believes she has a commitment from lawmakers to allow the new bill to get a full vote in the House of Representatives. The bill would still need to make it through the state Senate, where it also faces opposition, and overcome opposition by Minner.
Riverfest advocates argue that new casinos are the best way to blunt slots competition coming to Pennsylvania later this year. Gambling experts for the state say that new casinos in Pennsylvania will hurt Delaware's gambling revenue, which is the fourth-largest source of money in the state's budget. Diamond and Delaware Program officials say they will bring tens of millions of dollars into the state's treasury.
Only by adding new casinos can the state avoid a big drop in revenues, said Linda Graham, president of the development company behind Riverfest.
"The racetrack-only model is outdated," Graham said.
Delaware's three racetracks say that adding new casinos would only further cut up a limited pie, weakening them all.
Contact Steven Church at 324-2786 or
schurch@delawareonline.com
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p...603280342/1006