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Developer eyes new finance strategy
Commissioners want to borrow $1.5 million to buy and renovate a church building.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. – The developer of a proposed racetrack and casino in Mahoning Township has a new strategy to obtain financing, raising hopes that the project may still become a reality.
Lawrence County Commissioner Daniel Vogel said Tuesday that he and fellow commissioners Richard DeBlasio and Steve Craig met privately last Thursday with officials from Centaur, which is the parent company of the $425 million Valley View Downs harness racing/casino development planned for U.S. Route 422 in Mahoning Township.
Valley View Downs General Manager Joe DeRosa and Director of Development Rich Zieglar shared information they asked commissioners to keep confidential, Vogler said, explaining, “They are looking at a strategy to make it easier to get financing which would make it possible to move forward.”
He cautioned that the project may still be on hold for months, or even more than a year because if Centaur obtains financing, it must then go to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which would have to launch a lengthy background check on lenders. Vogler emphasized that the two men “didn’t really put a time frame on it.”
But DeBlasio added, “We feel good about what they had to say. They could have told us [the project] was dead. But they didn’t.”
Vogler concurred: “We feel better, a little more optimistic. But are we out of the woods yet? No. They still need to get that financing.”
After Tuesday’s meeting, Vogler left for Harrisburg, where he will attend today’s meeting of the Gaming Control Board. The Centaur project is not on the agenda, but Vogler regularly attends the meetings to keep abreast of what is happening and to remind the board of Lawrence County’s interest in the Centaur project.
The possibility that the group may obtain financing is good news for Lawrence County, which stands to realize numerous construction and permanent jobs, and millions in increased local tax revenue if the complex is built.
The project has been stalled since Centaur lost financing for the project in September 2008. Before losing the financing, Centaur officials had asked the state Gaming Control Board for a conditional slots license to satisfy its lenders who required they obtain a license by July 15, 2008. The board denied the request and refused to be hurried in conducting background investigations of lenders, which had been going on for nearly a year.
Only when background checks are concluded does the board schedule a “suitability” hearing on whether the slots license will be granted.
Also Tuesday, DeBlasio and Vogler passed a second reading on an ordinance to borrow $1.5 million for the $275,000 purchase of the Second Presbyterian Church and for renovations to convert the building to county offices. DeBlasio said after the meeting that the county is seeking architects’ proposals for the renovation.
County Chief Clerk/Administrator Jim Gagliano said the money will be borrowed from ESB Bank at 4.5 percent interest.
A public hearing on the plan will be scheduled.
Commissioner Steve Craig is on vacation and did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.