UPDATE: The Massachusetts Gaming Commission Issues Update on Resort-Casino Licensing Process in Southeastern Massachusetts
- March 16, 2015
- by MGC Communications
- 0 comments
Today the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is releasing an update on the current status of the Category 1 (resort-casino) licensing process in Southeastern Massachusetts (Region C). Previously, MGC had established, January 30, 2015, as the deadline for the first application (RFA-1) in a two-phase application process toward the award of a resort-casino license in Region C. On February 5, 2015, the Commission granted several extension requests during a public meeting to entities requiring additional time to submit deficient materials. At that time, the Commission set March 16, 2015 as the extended deadline to submit incomplete RFA-1 application materials.
As of the 5:00pm deadline, MGC is able to provide the following status report for Region C:
- MGC has deemed the RFA-1 application from Mass Gaming & Entertainment as “substantially complete”.
- KG Urban, in conjunction with the City of New Bedford, is formally requesting a 45 day extension to identify its complete equity for the project.
- Somerset and Crossroads have jointly requested an extension. It was a verbal request with a written confirmation of the request to follow. UPDATE: The extension request is now available here.
The Commission will discuss the current status of Region C at its next public meeting on March 19, 2015. The Commission will review extension requests at that time and will decline further comment on Region C until that public review is complete. It is anticipated that entities will be invited to address the Commission at that time.
In an effort to expedite licensing, MGC developed a bifurcated process, RFA-1 and RFA-2, to first allow for the determination of background qualifications and suitability of applicants for Category 1 (casino) and Category 2 (slot machine) gaming licenses in advance of the review of an applicant’s entire or ‘site specific’ application. An applicant cannot submit an RFA-2 application until it has successfully completed the RFA-1 application and has also been deemed ‘suitable’ by the Commission after an exhaustive background investigation.
The RFA-2 deadline for Region C is May 26, 2015.