Thursday, 4:30 PM
Mohegan Sun operators eyeing a western Mass. site
By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff
The operators of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut are eyeing development of a new casino in western Massachusetts.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority signed an exclusivity deal last week with a development company that owns a 150-acre swath of land in Palmer, near the Massachusetts Turnpike, according to Frank Fitzgerald, a lawyer involved in the deal.
The developers hope to build a retail complex whether or not gaming is approved in Massachusetts. But they have teamed up with Mohegan Sun so that if the state does back commercial gaming, the tribe would apply for a license to operate a casino on the site.
Observers view Mohegan Sun's foray into Massachusetts as a sign that the Connecticut tribe sees expanded gaming in Massachusetts as likely, if not inevitable, especially after the town of Middleborough approved a deal last weekend with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to bring the state's first casino to the rural southeastern town.
The Mohegan deal also reflects the mania sweeping the state as gambling interests from here and around the country line up for a piece of the action.
Mohegan Sun officials now will begin analyzing the Palmer site to determine how large a casino it could support and what kind of infrastructure improvements would be required. Members of the development team visited Beacon Hill this week to brief local legislators and State House casino advocates on their plans.
"I've learned it's never wise to speculate on what may happen in a jurisdiction," said Mitchell Etess, chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. "As everybody else, we're keeping our eye on what is happening. There are a million possible scenarios. Clearly, we're very familiar with the Northeast and this market and what people here like."
