Regulators pull the plug on Caesars Philadelphia project

Pennsylvania gaming authorities revoked the gaming license of an oft-delayed casino project in Philadelphia Thursday. The development’s local investors had recently partnered with Caesars Entertainment on the casino.
 
The state’s Gaming Control Board voted 6-to-1 to kill the project that, over the years, sought partnerships with Indian tribe that owns the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, Wynn Resorts Ltd., and Caesars.
 
Regulators said they were “fed up” after four years of delays.
 
Local investors pleaded for more time to build the casino on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in a new partnership with Caesars.
 
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the gaming regulators focused on three issues: The investors submitted incomplete documents on the Caesars deal; they changed the way charities would benefit from casino profits; and the project as now designed is notably different from the project first approved in December 2006.
 
Caesars, formerly known as Harrah’s Entertainment, announced a non-binding agreement to develop and manage the Philadelphia project last month. An attorney for the company told the Daily News Caesars would not have a role in the project going forward.
 
Caesars would have become a one-third owner of the casino, previously called "Foxwoods," and would have managed it under its "Horseshoe" brand.