One hundred and fourteen acres in Charlton are being ,marketed as a site for a casino. I've been to Foxwoods, and to Mohegan Sun, and they are both somewhat bigger than 114 acres. Their parking lots are bigger than 114 acres. Does this mean that a casino wouldn't be built on a parcel of land as small as 114 acres? No. It does mean that the owners will aggressively market it even more, and with the lands proximity to I-84, and the Mass Pike what it doesn't have in acreage it sure has in infrastructure.
I'd worry a bit about this one.
Charlton pitches for casino
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
By JOHN APPLETON
CHARLTON - The owner of 114 acres being marketed for a casino resort next to the Charlton eastbound service plaza on the Massachusetts Turnpike said he has an option to buy an additional 90 acres, which would make his parcel attractive for multiple hotels.
Vincent P. Iuliano also said that his property meets criteria advocated this month by the administration of Gov. Deval L. Patrick to locate casinos near other entertainment centers.
"I have had two inquiries for hotels, so this would be ancillary to the casino," said Iuliano, the owner of Jencent, LLC, which has been marketing its land adjacent to the turnpike to casino developers.
Iuliano said his property, bordered by the turnpike, the service plaza and a four-lane stretch of Route 20, has attracted interest from two casino resort developers: Penn National Gaming and the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida, which owns the Hard Rock entertainment brand.
"We have water and sewer and the right zoning already. It is shovel ready," Iuliano said.
"Our location offers the operator the lowest cost access to the highways. We are the most central to all of the arteries. We do not need to move mountains or build a (highway) fly-over," Iuliano said.
Iuliano announced his potential for nearly doubling the size of his property in a letter distributed to state legislators and the press.
Legislation to legalize casino gambling was approved by both houses of the Legislature last summer but died when Patrick refused to sign it because of his objections to provisions pushed by House Speaker Robert DeLeo to allow slot machines at race tracks.
Patrick and DeLeo have had recent talks aimed at coming to agreement on terms for casino legislation this year, and the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies held a hearing on casino legislation May 4.
Iuliano said his property's proximity to the intersection of the turnpike and Interstate 84 and to entertainment sites like the Brimfield Antiques Shows and Old Sturbridge Village make it "the most advantageous casino site in the state."
Another advantage of the Charlton site is its having a population of 7.4 million people living within a 55-mile radius, Iuliano said.
There are also proposals pending for building a resort casino in Holyoke and in Palmer.
The Charlton site was being marketed as a casino site in 2010 by Springfield lawyer Paul P. Nicolai, but Iuliano said Nicolai no longer has an option to purchase the original 114 acres of Jencent property.
Iuliano said his property has 0.8 miles of frontage along the Massachusetts Turnpike, just east of the service plaza. The 114 acres is divided by Route 20, with 46 acres to the north of Route 20 and 68 acres south of it.
It is four miles east of Exit 9 in Sturbridge, the location where Interstate 84 traffic from New York and Connecticut reach the turnpike.
This property at 130 Sturbridge Road was the location of American Reclamation Co., a hazardous waste recycling business that Iuliano operated for 35 years.
Iuliano said his property was used as a facility for crushing concrete, asphalt and brick and for processing oily soils and is ready for construction of a casino and hotel.
"It is shovel ready, zoning compliant and has successfully passed a 21E (environmental test) and has drinking water quality tested monitoring wells," Iuliano said.
Iuliano said the additional 90 acres he now has an option to buy is contiguous to the 68 acres he owns south of Route 20.
In July 2010, when the Legislature was considering whether to establish geographic zones for licensing casinos in Massachusetts, the Charlton Board of Selectmen went on record urging legislators not to establish zones because that system could mean that Central Massachusetts communities would have to compete with Boston.
©2011 The Republican
© 2011 MassLive.com All Rights Reserved.
The money and lobbying behind these casino deals should give us all pause. Questionable lobbyists are pouring money into the coffers of Governor Deval Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray - don't be surprised to see another Jack Abramoff Indian gaming scandal or worse when the dust settles from this.
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