Twin River unveils casino plan for Tiverton

THE TWIN RIVER Management Group Tiverton casino features a two-story, 85,000 square foot facility. / COURTESY TWIN RIVER MANAGEMENT GROUP
THE TWIN RIVER Management Group Tiverton casino features a two-story, 85,000 square foot facility. / COURTESY TWIN RIVER MANAGEMENT GROUP

TIVERTON – The Town Council learned Monday night that hosting a casino could yield about $4 million in annual revenue if enabling legislation is passed to support the Twin River Management Group’s proposal.
The $75 million project, which includes a hotel, would rely on the license transferred from Newport Grand, which TRMG acquired in July, according to a press release. Approval of the proposal is required at referendum both in Tiverton and statewide.
The development would be set on 23 acres within the 45-acre parcel of land just off Stafford Road, about 400 feet from the Fall River, Mass. border and would offer 1,100 surface parking spaces for customers.
“We take very seriously the economic commitment to the town, and quite frankly, if the legislation to make this possible fails to pass the General Assembly this legislative session and we cannot substantially meet the economics of our proposal, we will withdraw the question from the local and statewide ballot,” John E. Taylor, Jr., chairman of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc., the owner of TRMG, said in a statement.
The $4 million would be comprised chiefly of $3 million in casino revenue from an estimated 1,000 slot machines and 32 table games, Taylor said. He estimated real and personal property taxes at up to $800,000 annually, as well as up to $200,000 annually in other taxes and fees at the hotel, restaurants, and for fees and permitting.
The casino would have between 525 and 600 licensed employees, Taylor said. He noted that existing employees at Newport Grand would be offered the opportunity to work at the new casino, and job fairs in the town of Tiverton would occur before further hiring began.
Taylor and TRMG also released results of a gaming market study done by the Innovation Group, which has offices in New Orleans, La., Colorado and Florida. The consultant examined scenarios in which Tiverton’s new casino had to face competition from a resort casino in Brockton, Mass., and/or a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal casino in Taunton, Mass.
The consultant projected as much as $147.9 million in gaming revenue at Tiverton if neither Massachusetts project develops, but $103.8 million if both enter the market. With just a Taunton, Mass., casino, Tiverton revenue could top $112.1 million; with just a Brockton casino, Tiverton revenue could exceed $127.6 million, Taylor said.
The proposed Tiverton casino features a two-story, 85,000-square-foot structure, with gaming on the first floor in a building “reflective of the shoreline town,” Taylor said. A sit-down themed restaurant, as well as two to three take-away restaurants, a bar with an entertainment offering and optional valet parking, would be included, he said.
An attached 84-room hotel would also feature some meeting space and a small fitness room.
TRMG also presented results of analyses on the proposal’s expected traffic and environmental impacts.
Besides Twin River in Lincoln and Newport Grand in Newport, TRMG owns and manages Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Miss. TRMG also owns and operates a horse racetrack, Arapahoe Park, in Aurora, Colo.

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