You've either got or you haven't got style. So sang Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin -- presumably directly to the crowd assembled for Tuesday's proposals to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Casino magnate and Penn graduate Steve Wynn placed his Vegas pedigree (and Rat Pack panache) at the top of the pile of six applications which also included Bart Blatstein's Provence, Ken Goldenberg's Market8, and three South Philly proposals. The plan for Wynn Philadelphia would see the full buildout of a massive riverfront resort -- just upstream from extant slots barn Sugar House.
Wynn was previously invested in the failed Foxwoods casino project, the one which opened up the casino license being bid on this week. This, however, would be solely his company's operation. While casino projects, particularly those along the Delaware River in Fishtown, are always a lightning rod for controversy, it's hard to deny the successful business model that Wynn has built in Las Vegas, namely The Mirage, Bellagio, and his eponymous Wynn resort. Nor can one deny the sad, sad state of the Delaware Riverfront between Penn Treaty and Pulaski Parks.
Whether Wynn Philadelphia could spur development of the long-vacant Conrail Yards is clearly conjecture at this point, but it's fun to imagine the possibilities of an over 200 acre riverfront plot next to a reputable tourist destination. Isn't it? Plan Philly has Wynn's video presentation here.
— A. Nichols
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