Mohegan, Suffolk Downs to partner on Revere casino

After having their casino plans shot down at the polls on Election Day, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and Suffolk Downs agreed to team up on Suffolk Downs' revised proposal for a casino in Revere, Boston.com reported Wednesday. Above, an artist's rendering of Suffolk Down's proposed $1 billion resort casino, originally planned for its racetrack on the East Boston-Revere border. / COURTESY SUFFOLK DOWNS
After having their casino plans shot down at the polls on Election Day, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and Suffolk Downs agreed to team up on Suffolk Downs' revised proposal for a casino in Revere, Boston.com reported Wednesday. Above, an artist's rendering of Suffolk Down's proposed $1 billion resort casino, originally planned for its racetrack on the East Boston-Revere border. / COURTESY SUFFOLK DOWNS

BOSTON – After a Tuesday recount reaffirmed the Election Day vote rejecting the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority’s plans for a casino in Palmer, Mass., the developer agreed to team up with Suffolk Downs on its casino bid in Revere, Boston.com reported Wednesday.

Mohegan will replace Caesars Entertainment, which withdrew as operator of the proposed Suffolk Downs casino after meeting with resistance from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission during its background check of Caesars.

Suffolk Downs and Mohegan officials settled the terms of the deal Tuesday, Boston.com said, and the deal is set to be signed and publicly announced Wednesday.

The original Suffolk Downs proposal involved a $1 billion casino at its racecourse straddling the East Boston-Revere border, but after the project failed to garner support among voters in East Boston, Suffolk Downs reworked the plan to move the casino entirely onto the Revere side of the property, where voters had approved it.

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The new proposal would locate the casino on 42 acres in Revere, about a half mile from the horse track in East Boston, according to the Boston Business Journal.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has requested a legal review of the revised Suffolk Downs proposal, and will discuss the matter at a meeting tentatively set for Dec. 3, the Boston Business Journal said.

If it receives the commission’s approval, the Mohegan-Suffolk Downs casino will compete with Wynn Resorts Ltd. for the sole Boston-area gaming license.

In June, voters in Everett, Mass., overwhelmingly approved the Wynn Resorts plan to build a $1.3 billion casino along the Mystic River, but Boston.com reported last week that a federal grand jury investigation into whether a businessman with a criminal record has hidden ownership of the property has cast controversy on the Wynn Resorts bid.

The other contender for the Boston-area license, Foxwoods affiliate Crossroads Massachusetts LLC, lost its bid for a casino in Milford when two-thirds of town residents rejected the proposal in a Nov. 19 vote.

With Tuesday’s recount nixing the possibility of a Mohegan casino in Palmer, MGM – whose plans for a casino in Springfield received voter approval – is the only developer left in the running for the sole casino license allocated for western Massachusetts.

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