September CRE Insider

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INSIDETRACK •

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MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION TIME LINE Mid-October: The commission will issue the form “Requests for Applications RFA1” to prequalify bidders based on their finances and background checks. January 2013: RFA-1 applications submitted to commission (three to six months). April 2013: Commission reviews completed RFA-1 applications and issues a second form, “Request for Applications RFA-2” to applicants who passed the initial screening (three to six months). July 2013: Applicants submit completed RFA-2 forms; surrounding community agreements must be executed and host agreements approved by referendum (three to eight months). October 2013: Commission reviewed completed RFA-2 applications and selects licensees (three to six months).

THIS MONTH: BETTING ON CASINOS NEXT MONTH: BOSTON’S SEAPORT DISTRICT

CREInsider The

A BANKER & TRADESMAN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SPECIAL SECTION

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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TOWN & COUNTRY

Betting On The Bay State’s Cities Massachusetts Casino Developers Were Supposed To Follow The Foxwoods Model, But The Advantages Of Urban Locales Can’t Be Ignored

Source: Massachusetts Gaming Commission

SUFFOLK DOWNS/CAESARS AT A GLANCE •

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Suffolk Downs and Caesars Entertainment is the lone contender for the lucrative Greater Boston-Worcester area casino license. The proposal calls for: Project Size: 163 acres Casino Complex: 200,000 square feet of gaming space, including 4,000 to 5,000 slot machines, 200 table games and a World Series of Poker room. Other Facilities: 300-room hotel, up to 10 restaurants, retail shops, entertainment and nightclub venues, luxury spa facilities, upgraded horse racing venue, garage and surface parking. Estimated Cost: $1 billion Employment: 2,500 construction jobs, 4,000 resort jobs Transportation: $40 million transportation improvement plan funded by Suffolk Downs includes $30 million for a flyover at Boardman Street intersection, widening and adding access lanes to Route 1A and upgrading the resort’s entrance. Another $10 million is earmarked for other local and regional projects, including improving ramp connections at Routes 1 and 16.

BOSTON/CAMBRIDGE OFFICE HALF YEAR STATS 820,953 square feet • Total square feet absorbed in the first six months of 2012. The most net absorption since the second half of 2007. $23.24 per square foot • The variance in average asking rental rates among the six submarkets – up from $18.58 a square foot in the second half of 2011. 16.7 percent • Percentage increase in Back Bay tower average asking rents in the first six months of 2012. 1.8 million square feet • The total square feet of office space under construction in the central business district (CBD) – all of which is either owner-built or built-to-suit. $80 per square foot • The highest quoted asking rent in the CBD. Source: Newmark Grubb Knight Frank

FEATURES

Contributed Renderings

Source: Suffolk Downs

BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST

MGM Resorts International’s Springfield casino plan would include a mix of new construction and the renovation of some existing architecture over three city blocks.

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he Bay State will become a den of iniquity if we let casino developers build in “vulnerable” urban areas near where lots of poor people live – or so the limousine liberals would have us believe. Well, it’s time to dump this hackneyed, patronizing and hypocritical argument into the circular file where it belongs. Massachusetts could very well wind up with a pair of urban casinos. And our state is likely to be much better off for it, especially when it comes down to jobs and economic development. The state’s budding effort to license a trio of casinos has the potential to rev the economic engines of cities and communities that wind Continued on Page 5

LAW OF THE LAND

Recently enacted legislation in Massachusetts allows tax-exempt financing of project infrastructure for private developments. PAGE B3

TAKING NO CHANCES

Process Under Way For Licensing Three Casinos, Slot Parlor Commission Gears Up For Gaming Licensing Process

WORTH THE GAMBLE?

BY STEPHEN CROSBY SPECIAL TO BANKER & TRADESMAN

The New England Gaming Research Project by the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass Dartmouth gives us the economic odds on whether Massachusetts’ big economic bet on gambling will pay off.

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PAGE B4 STEPHEN CROSBY

t this issue’s publication date, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been in operation for six months. We’ve held 27 open public meetings, hosted six public educational forums, participated in numerous speaking

engagements, begun hiring key personnel and developed a $7.2 million budget. A month ago, we launched the first phase of a two-phase “Request For Application” process, then held statewide public hearings on the regulations for this RFA Phase, and are now working with multiple ac-

tive gaming applicants. Now that the commission is formed and operating, and the licensing process is well under way, it is important to go back to the basics, to remember why the commonwealth is doing this, and then to set proper expectations for the Continued on Page 3


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