More News

ANNAPOLIS — A slots parlor at Arundel Mills mall in Hanover received a strong endorsement Nov. 12 from the state slots commission, whose chairman said the panel would vote on the proposal sometime next month with or without the Anne Arundel County Council's zoning approval for the site.

"When you look at the factors that we are to evaluate from a business and market factor, we clearly have a destination location," said Donald C. Fry, who heads the commission tasked with awarding operator licenses. "The numbers that have been presented today showing as much as $500 million per year and the win-per-day of the machines is an exceptional number for 4,750 [machines]."

An analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers found when the parlor is operational in 2016 it could generate $500.5 million per year, with each machine bringing in about $289 each day.

Those numbers are something for the Anne Arundel County Council to consider, Fry said. The license has been in limbo for months while the council deliberates whether to grant a zoning change that would allow the parlor.

"We have virtually heard everything and received everything that we should have to make a decision," Fry said. "And we are at that point but for that zoning."

The commission would prefer that the council vote on the zoning change first, Fry said. But the law allows the slots commission to proceed.

Fry's commission can award a license, but it wouldn't be issued formally by the Lottery Commission — a separate entity — until all the required zoning and other permits have been issued.

"I think it is important for us to move forward," Fry said. "This certainly does seem to be a location and a proposal that would reap tremendous financial benefits for the state of Maryland and it is in [its] best interest."

The panel considered voting on the license Nov. 12, but with two of seven members absent, the remaining commissioners decided to schedule the vote for an undecided December date.

"It could not have been a stronger message from the commission that not only do they fully support Arundel Mills, but that it's the linchpin of the entire gaming business in the state of Maryland," said Joseph Weinberg, a partner in Cordish Cos., which has applied for the license.

The meeting would likely be scheduled in early December, before a scheduled Dec. 17 meeting of the commission, Fry said. It could come before Dec. 7, the day the council is scheduled to vote on the zoning amendment and the same day that Joshua J. Cohen, a county councilman and opponent of the zoning change, is scheduled to be sworn in as Annapolis mayor.

Should Cohen (D) of Annapolis resign before the Dec. 7 vote, the council could potentially appoint a slots supporter to replace Cohen and pass the zoning change.

The slots commission would also take up a Baltimore city proposal at the Dec. 17 meeting.

Members of the Baltimore City Entertainment Group LLC have yet to submit revised plans for a 3,750-machine facility near Camden Yards.

The inaction on the Anne Arundel County license has some thinking slots could yet come to Laurel Park.

Magna Entertainment Corp. applied for a slots license in April, but failed to include the $28.5 million application fee with its bid. In March, the company, whose assets include Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Laurel Park and the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

On Nov. 12, The Baltimore Sun reported that Magna was continuing bankruptcy proceedings without naming a lead bidder for its Maryland assets. The next round of bidding is Dec. 4.

An auction for the tracks, the Preakness and the Bowie Training Center, is scheduled for Jan. 8.