Wynn’s attention may be turning toward Atlantic City
Steve Wynn’s sudden departure from a planned $600 million casino project in Philadelphia on Thursday surprised his partners and Wall Street.
Wynn, through Wynn Resorts, agreed at the end of February to become the managing partner in the planned casino on a waterfront site near the Delaware River in South Philadelphia.
He seemed to be moving forward earlier this week after meeting with the city’s mayor and submitting a package of renderings to state gaming regulators, before pulling the plug Thursday.
Union Gaming Group Principal Bill Lerner speculated there might have been a partnership-related dispute.
Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners, the local investor group that originally owned 70 percent of the project, known as Foxwoods Philadelphia, was going to be diluted to 35 percent.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation was going to see its ownership decreased to 14 percent from 30 percent.
Lerner thought the original costs for land and license investments for the project was $114.7 million.
“(The partnership) may have wanted to be made whole on their investment which may not have been amenable to Wynn Resorts especially as Wynn Resorts, without a financial partner, was going to fund the cash equity requirement for development,” Lerner said.
Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski, thought Wynn was not happy with a somewhat cold reception he received in Pennsylvania.
“We had been hearing that the city of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board had not been overly receptive to Steve Wynn, which, in our opinion, was a mistake,” Wieczynski said. “Having an experienced gaming developer and operator enter the city of Philadelphia would have been a win-win situation for both parties, in our opinion.”
Some analysts speculated Wynn’s attention has now turned toward Atlantic City and the troubled Revel casino site. Last week, investment house Morgan Stanley announced plans to see its 90 percent stake in the project, valued at $1.2 billion.
Said one interested party, in an email this morning, “The Revel is looking for a large investor to the tune of a billion dollars, but it has everything Mr. Wynn is looking for — better market, hotel, larger dining, retail, bigger gaming floors, etc.”
Update: Wynn Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn told the Associated Press in Atlantic City today that he has no interest in buying a casino or building a resort in the Boardwalk gaming community.
On Thursday, Wynn pulled out of a planned $600 million casino project in Philadelphia.
