Foxwoods

Jul 29, 2010 — The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jennifer Lin

Jul. 29, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- HARRISBURG -- A lawyer for the Foxwoods Casino project told state gaming commissioners today that the development's partners expect to submit to regulators next week a new "arrangement" for reviving the stalled gaming project.

But the gaming board chairman expressed frustration with the way the project has been drawn out.

Foxwoods lawyer F. Warren Jacoby testified at a board hearing, "We have every expectation that we should be submitting an arrangement to the board next week," adding that it would be a "term sheet" with an unnamed party.

A term sheet would spell out nonbinding terms of an agreement.

Jacoby did not elaborate, but Harrah's Entertainment has confirmed that it is in discussions with Foxwoods. According to sources, Harrah's would invest in the foundering project and operate a casino on the Delaware River waterfront in South Philadelphia.

Jacoby's remarks were made during a hearing to consider a motion from Foxwoods for more time to complete discovery in the board's action to revoke the project's license.

On April 29, lawyers for the board initiated a legal proceeding to strip the project of its gaming license.

In questioning, the board's chairman, Gregory Fajt, expressed impatience and frustration with the Foxwoods group and indicated he thought the project's lawyers have had plenty of time to complete their discovery.

Fajt noted that the Foxwoods group, led by South Jersey lawyer Lewis Katz, Philadelphia developer Ron Rubin and Comcast-Spectacor (NASDAQ:CMCSA) chairman Ed Snider, was selected for a gaming license from the state in December 2006. A group of investors, including the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe, paid $50 million for the license to operate a slots casino on Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia.

"Coming on four years your client has had an asset of this Commonwealth and that asset is wasting," Fajt said. "That's the way I see it."

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Newstex ID: KRTB-0160-47434936