Foxwoods Has Until Dec. 10 To Close Harrah's Deal

The state Gaming Control Board today gave the investors behind the Foxwoods casino in South Philadelphia until Dec. 10 to finalize a deal to have Harrah's Entertainment take over the project.  The investors could have their state casino license revoked at the board's Dec. 16 meeting if they miss that deadline.

Harrah's and the local investors, known as Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners, today submitted plans for the first two phases of a riverfront casino on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street.  The plans show a two-story, 57,463-square-foot casino -- with the new name of Horseshoe Casino -- set more than 300 feet back from Columbus Boulevard and close to the bank of the Delaware River, surrounded by surface parking lots with 1,376 spaces.

The casino investors announced last month that after years of fits and starts they had partnered with Harrah's to save the project, six months after the board's Office of Enforcement Counsel proposed revoking the casino license.  Casino developer Steve Wynn briefly had a deal to take over earlier this year but backed out.  The original partner, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs two Connecticut casinos under the Foxwoods brand name, has been beset with financial troubles.

The board today considered a summary judgment on revocation, which would have yanked the license without further hearings, but decided to give the investors three more weeks to complete the Harrah's deal.

The plans submitted today includes details for an Asian gaming room, a noodle bar, and a riverfront sports bar under a steakhouse.  The second phase includes a four-story parking garage with 2,250 spaces, built on the plot's southwest corner by Columbus Boulevard and Tasker Avenue.