6.07.07
Mashpee Wampanoag casino gains new backers
By Aaron Gouveia
STAFF WRITER
The same world-renowned investors who helped make the Mohegan Sun casino a reality have agreed to bankroll the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in its effort to build a resort casino in the southeastern part of the state.
Len Wolman of the Waterford Group and Sol Kerzner of Kerzner International have teamed with Starwood Capital — a multibillion-dollar real estate investment firm in Connecticut — in a partnership called Trading Cove Associates, said tribe spokesman Scott Ferson. They join Detroit developer Herb Strather, who began financing the tribe's efforts for federal recognition almost 10 years ago.
"We felt a relationship with the tribe right away and we're here to support them in their quest to develop an outstanding facility," Wolman said in a phone interview yesterday.
In addition to Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., Wolman and Kerzner have helped build resort casinos such as the Atlantis Resort in Dubai, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and Resorts International in Atlantic City.
Talks with Trading Cove have been ongoing for several months, Ferson said, but became final last month after the tribe was officially recognized.
Terms of the agreement have not yet been released by tribe officials, but Strather is now a minority investor with the arrival of Wolman and Kerzner, Ferson said.
And with the backing of one of the world's best-known hotel and casino investors, Ferson said, there is little doubt about the ability of the Mashpee Wampanoag to bring this project to fruition.
"The question always lingering was, 'Will they have the capacity?'" Ferson said. "Now we have Trading Cove and partners who are the best in the industry to realize the vision (tribal chairman) Glenn Marshall has put forward."
Wolman and Kerzner get a cut of the revenue generated by Mohegan Sun until 2014, and Ferson said a similar arrangement will likely be worked out between the tribe and investors when the time comes.
Wolman said the Mashpee Wampanoag are adamant about operating a gaming facility themselves instead of turning it over to Trading Cove Associates to manage, as was true in the first few years at Mohegan Sun.
The announcement comes just days before Monday's deadline to exercise an option on 125 acres of land Strather has committed to buy for $1.76 million in the town of Middleboro.
The tribe also purchased the option to buy 200 additional acres adjacent to Strather's parcel.
However, Ferson said, no decision has been made about whether that land or potential sites in New Bedford will be used to develop a casino.
Meanwhile, the tribe has caused a stir among state legislators by circulating a 13-page legal brief that states the governor can negotiate a gambling agreement with the tribe even if the Legislature fails to approve it.
Sen. Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, a casino opponent, said yesterday he had not seen the legal brief. However, he doubted the Legislature, particularly House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, also a gambling opponent, would leave a decision on casinos solely up to the governor.
"I think in the end, if there is going to be casino-style gambling in Massachusetts, the Legislature is going to have to vote on it," O'Leary predicted. "I can't see the governor trying to do it on his own."
Cyndi Roy, a spokeswoman for Gov. Deval Patrick, said Patrick is waiting until later this summer to make a decision, after reviewing a casino gambling report from Daniel O'Connell, secretary of housing and economic development.
To Wolman, who is involved in various hotel and casino projects, including one in the Catskills with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, this area is "underserved as far as gaming is concerned."
When Mohegan Sun opened in 1996, Wolman said the Connecticut market yielded $1 billion in gaming revenue.
Last year, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods combined for $2.4 billion.
"Each time there's been significant capital investment, we've seen revenue go up," Wolman said.
Aaron Gouveia can be reached at agouveia@capecodonline.com. David Kibbe of the Times Boston bureau contributed to this report.
STAFF WRITER
The same world-renowned investors who helped make the Mohegan Sun casino a reality have agreed to bankroll the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in its effort to build a resort casino in the southeastern part of the state.
Len Wolman of the Waterford Group and Sol Kerzner of Kerzner International have teamed with Starwood Capital — a multibillion-dollar real estate investment firm in Connecticut — in a partnership called Trading Cove Associates, said tribe spokesman Scott Ferson. They join Detroit developer Herb Strather, who began financing the tribe's efforts for federal recognition almost 10 years ago.
"We felt a relationship with the tribe right away and we're here to support them in their quest to develop an outstanding facility," Wolman said in a phone interview yesterday.
In addition to Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., Wolman and Kerzner have helped build resort casinos such as the Atlantis Resort in Dubai, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and Resorts International in Atlantic City.
Talks with Trading Cove have been ongoing for several months, Ferson said, but became final last month after the tribe was officially recognized.
Terms of the agreement have not yet been released by tribe officials, but Strather is now a minority investor with the arrival of Wolman and Kerzner, Ferson said.
And with the backing of one of the world's best-known hotel and casino investors, Ferson said, there is little doubt about the ability of the Mashpee Wampanoag to bring this project to fruition.
"The question always lingering was, 'Will they have the capacity?'" Ferson said. "Now we have Trading Cove and partners who are the best in the industry to realize the vision (tribal chairman) Glenn Marshall has put forward."
Wolman and Kerzner get a cut of the revenue generated by Mohegan Sun until 2014, and Ferson said a similar arrangement will likely be worked out between the tribe and investors when the time comes.
Wolman said the Mashpee Wampanoag are adamant about operating a gaming facility themselves instead of turning it over to Trading Cove Associates to manage, as was true in the first few years at Mohegan Sun.
The announcement comes just days before Monday's deadline to exercise an option on 125 acres of land Strather has committed to buy for $1.76 million in the town of Middleboro.
The tribe also purchased the option to buy 200 additional acres adjacent to Strather's parcel.
However, Ferson said, no decision has been made about whether that land or potential sites in New Bedford will be used to develop a casino.
Meanwhile, the tribe has caused a stir among state legislators by circulating a 13-page legal brief that states the governor can negotiate a gambling agreement with the tribe even if the Legislature fails to approve it.
Sen. Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, a casino opponent, said yesterday he had not seen the legal brief. However, he doubted the Legislature, particularly House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, also a gambling opponent, would leave a decision on casinos solely up to the governor.
"I think in the end, if there is going to be casino-style gambling in Massachusetts, the Legislature is going to have to vote on it," O'Leary predicted. "I can't see the governor trying to do it on his own."
Cyndi Roy, a spokeswoman for Gov. Deval Patrick, said Patrick is waiting until later this summer to make a decision, after reviewing a casino gambling report from Daniel O'Connell, secretary of housing and economic development.
To Wolman, who is involved in various hotel and casino projects, including one in the Catskills with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, this area is "underserved as far as gaming is concerned."
When Mohegan Sun opened in 1996, Wolman said the Connecticut market yielded $1 billion in gaming revenue.
Last year, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods combined for $2.4 billion.
"Each time there's been significant capital investment, we've seen revenue go up," Wolman said.
Aaron Gouveia can be reached at agouveia@capecodonline.com. David Kibbe of the Times Boston bureau contributed to this report.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070607/NEWS/706070317/-1/NEWS
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