There may now be seven horses in the race to operate a “Racino” at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park – but nobody’s quite sure who all the jockeys are.
What is certain is that seven proposals to run a Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) gaming room and other commercial and entertainment operations at the track were submitted by the deadline of 5 p.m. on Friday, May 8.
According to a statement from Governor David Paterson’s office, “The parties are SL Green Realty Corporation, Mohegan Sun, Penn National Gaming, Delaware North Companies, Aqueduct Entertainment Group, Peebles Development, LLC and Development Associates, a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts Limited.”
Aqueduct Entertainment consists of eight companies in “gaming and non-gaming aspects,” including Empowerment Development Group, according to a spokesperson.
According to Reverend Floyd Flake of the Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Jamaica, the proposal includes a “housing component” in its bid. He told The Queens Courier, “Allen Development Corporation is involved in the housing component as a co-developer.”
Flake said he was not familiar with the details of the rest of the proposal, and the other participants in the group. “It’s been going on for so long,” he commented.
Delaware North said through a spokesperson that their bid is actually through a partnership, Aqueduct Gaming LLC, that includes Saratoga Gaming and Raceway; McKissack & McKissack, billed as the country’s oldest African-American, women-owned design and construction firm; and the Peebles Corporation, reportedly the nation’s largest African-American real estate development company.
However, a spokesperson for Peebles said that, while they participated with Delaware North “during the first go-around,” they had no role in preparing the second bid, and that Peebles had submitted a separate proposal this time.
SL Green, which filed a lawsuit against Delaware North on April 17, would not discuss details of their bid or the court action. The suit claims that Delaware North used confidential information from their earlier partnership seeking the racing franchise to gain an unfair advantage in the VLT bidding.
William J. Bissett, President of Delaware North’s gaming division, called the suit “a desperate attempt by SL Green to try to enhance their standing in the re-bid process.” A company spokesperson would not confirm whether they had, as yet, responded to it.
Penn National Gaming operates more than 20 casinos and other gaming and horserace wagering facilities nationwide. A spokesperson called their proposal “mutually beneficial,” but would not elaborate.
Mohegan Sun’s proposal, to operate a VLT facility to be built by the state, is an idea that has reportedly been dismissed by the governor. Jeff Hartmann, their Chief Operating Officer said, that “An investment of capital and resources in this opportunity, at this time, does not align with our stated goals, to continue to strengthen our balance sheet.”
The franchise will be awarded by a joint agreement of Patterson, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, according to Morgan Hook, a spokesperson for Paterson.
“The governor’s office and representatives of the majority leader and the speaker expect to evaluate these proposals over the coming weeks and award the franchise once the review has been completed and an agreement among the parties has been reached,” Hook said
He confirmed to The Queens Courier that each of the bidders will have to be vetted anew. “Vetting is part of the process and we’ve got to evaluate everyone based on today, as opposed to a year ago,” he said.
Hook refused to project a time-frame for the final decision. “There are six or seven weeks until the end of the Legislative Session,” he observed. “The governor, majority leader and speaker have a lot of things taking up their time – this is just one of them.”
