Deadline nears for second Philly casino license

PHILADELPHIA ( AP) — With an application deadline approaching, at least five groups are interested in the second casino license slotted for Philadelphia.

Applications are due to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board by the close of business Thursday. Philadelphia officials, meanwhile, said six groups submitted “local impact reports” to the city, which has had SugarHouse Casino up and running since September 2010.

On Wednesday, however, Parkway Corp. President Robert Zuritsky said his group was pulling out and not applying for the license. His group had proposed putting a casino near the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which he said didn’t work out. “We do not have all the pieces together,” Zuritsky said. The groups applying for the second license in Philadelphia include real estate developer Bart Blatstein, who wants to put a casino at the site of the former headquarters of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. That $ 700 million project would include a casino, a 125room hotel and two parking garages, plus shopping and entertainment venues.

Wynn Resorts, the company run by casino magnate Steve Wynn, submitted paperwork for a project not far from the Sugarhouse casino. Penn National Gaming, which currently has Hollywood Casino at Penn National in the central Pennsylvania town of Grantville, has proposed Hollywood Casino Philadelphia. Cordish Cos., a Baltimore developer, has proposed building a casino near the city’s three pro sports stadiums in south Philadelphia.

The Goldenberg Group, a real estate developer, has proposed a casino near the city’s historic district.

Those groups have all submitted plans to the city, according to the mayor’s office. Gaming board spokesman Doug Harbach said the state would likely announce Friday how many applications it had received. After the deadline, the gambling board will hold public hearings.