Live! from South Philly, it's a new casino

THERE IS one safe bet for a new casino license holder in Philadelphia: Politicians, neighbors and people who applied for but didn't win the license may try to stop the project from going forward.

That may be the immediate future for the investors behind Live! Hotel & Casino, which won the city's second gaming license yesterday in a vote by the state Gaming Control Board.

That project is a partnership between Greenwood Racing Inc., which runs Parx Casino in Bensalem, and the Cordish Co., which owns a casino in Maryland and Xfinity Live! at 11th Street and Pattison Avenue.

Those investors plan to spend $425 million to build on Packer Avenue at Darien Street a 71,500-square-foot casino with 2,000 slot machines and 125 table games; four restaurants; a 2,600-spot, seven-story garage; an 11-story, 200-room hotel; and a 1,000-seat live-music venue.

But first, they should expect some serious challenges.

The 2004 state law legalizing casinos gives the three losing applicants for the license 30 days to appeal the board's ruling to the state Supreme Court. That is now under consideration.

The losing bidders were projects headed by developers Bart Blatstein at Broad and Callowhill streets, Ken Goldenberg at 8th and Market streets, and Joseph Procacci at Front Street and Pattison Avenue.

Then there are the neighbors.

"We're exploring all of our options, and we will do everything possible to protect our neighbors," said Barbara Capozzi, the treasurer of the Sports Complex Special Services District.

Capozzi says heavy traffic from Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, the Wells Fargo Center and Xfinity Live! will only get worse with the casino.

She said 90 percent of about 700 people who showed up at a raucous community meeting about the casino last week were against the project.

"Some of them want to sell their houses already," she said.

Capozzi said the neighborhood won't be wooed by potential financial offers from the casino.

"Money can't buy everything," she said. "It certainly can't buy peace and security."

Enter City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, who defeated Capozzi by just 40 votes in the 2011 Democratic primary election for the 2nd District seat.

Johnson yesterday said he would wait to introduce commercial entertainment zoning legislation "until I believe the concerns of my constituents have been addressed."

He dodged questions when asked about the state Supreme Court's ability to override Council and force the city to give the new casino zoning approval.

Johnson said last week's community meeting was the first time his constituents got together to oppose the casino over the two-year application process.

And he said the Sports Complex Special Services District and the Packer Park Civic Association failed to follow the formal process for objecting to the casino location.

"We will never know the impact formal opposition could have had on the Cordish proposal," he said.

Gaming board members refused to answer questions after voting unanimously yesterday for the Live! Hotel & Casino, citing potential legal challenges, but released a 172-page detailed explanation of their decision.

The board called the project "right-sized" and "not overbuilt," with a good location close to the stadiums and parking lots while away from neighborhoods.

It said the distance to nearby casinos would provide a "buffer."

SugarHouse in Fishtown is about seven miles away, while Parx Casino in Bensalem is 22 miles away and Harrah's Philadelphia in Chester is 13 miles away.

The board called public opposition to the project "not a substantial impediment" and noted it was mostly driven by traffic.

The casino's investors have agreed to pay for a ramp on 7th Street to Interstate 76.

The board also liked the "marriage" of Greenwood Racing and the Cordish Co. since they can self-finance the project.

While all the applicants were found "suitable" for consideration, the board did not buy the argument that the two Center City projects were needed to drive revitalization nearby. It also expressed concerns about traffic and parking for those sites.

Mayor Nutter's administration had favored a Center City casino.

But Nutter supported yesterday's vote, citing the construction and casino jobs it will create.

"Hopefully this one will move forward without too much consternation and challenge," Nutter said of the project.

In a separate vote, again unanimous, the board yesterday rejected a request from SugarHouse to reconsider granting the second license in the city.

SugarHouse's investors argued that the regional market is "saturated" with gambling venues and can't support another.

Robert Green, of Greenwood Racing, said yesterday that the crowds drawn by the sports stadiums near his location are a "significant untapped source of revenue" coming from New Jersey, Delaware and other states.

"Why would you spend hundreds of millions of dollars to cannibalize an existing business?" Green asked when the issue of saturation was raised. "You have to believe that you will create incremental revenues to make it worthwhile."

Green said the investors could break ground in the next eight months, depending on legal challenges, and could be open for business in 15 to 18 months.