Politics & Government

Casino Developer Has Week to Decide if it Will Pursue Slots License

The company that is reportedly looking at Liberty Tree Mall as a location for the state's only slots parlor has a week to decide if it is seeking a slots license, and not a resort casino license.

The company eyeing Liberty Tree Mall as the site of the state’s only slots parlor has a week to decide whether it will indeed seek a slots license, the Boston Herald is reporting on Monday afternoon.

Later, in a press release, Massachusetts Gaming Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll confirmed the report through a press release issued by the commission.

There’s only one slots license up for grabs statewide and the state Gaming Commission has said it plans to award that license by the end of the year. To move along the process, the commission has set Monday, Feb. 18 as the deadline for the two undecided companies to tell state regulators whether they want to build a resort casino or slots parlor.

Find out what's happening in Danverswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Eleven companies submitted an application and the $400,000 deposit by the January deadline and two of them did not say anything about their plans. One of those companies was The Cordish Companies, which submitted under the name PPE Casino Resorts MA. It was later revealed that PPE is looking at the vacant former The Sports Authority space at the Liberty Tree Mall to locate the casino, using the store’s 50,000 square feet with plans for a 50,000 square foot addition.

Previously, Driscoll has said that Cordish needed to decide which license it is seeking "very soon." Monday's announcement is the first time a hard deadline has been set.

Find out what's happening in Danverswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The other undecided applicant is Rush Street, which the Herald said is looking at putting a slots parlor in Worcester.

Driscoll told Danvers Patch that Monday’s deadline only applies to license type and not location. The companies can continue to investigate possible locations without submitting plans to the commission.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here