Foxwoods to announce plan to build resort casino in Fall River (Taunton: 2014, hotel)

[StanleyCupChamps2011]

Flanagan said the casino developers would invest $750 million in the project, which would include a 140,000-square-foot gambling floor, approximately 20 restaurants, a 350-room hotel, a “name brand” shopping mall, an entertainment arena, a convention center and spa.
The investment, Flanagan said, will create 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.
In November, Milford voters soundly voted against plans to build a $1 billion resort casino in their town. Flanagan said the day after that vote he received a call from David Nunes, the chief operating officer of Foxwoods Massachusetts.
“He said, 'I want to come to Fall River,'” Flanagan said. “I said, 'OK, let’s talk about the city.'”
After that call, Flanagan and members of his administration met with Nunes and Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera, he said. At the meeting they agreed to move forward with plans to locate a smaller scale casino and look at possible sites in the city.

Flanagan: Deal between Fall River, Foxwoods to be announced Tuesday - News - The Herald News, Fall River, MA - Fall River, MA

[lrfox]

This goes along with the 10 or so other proposals in other cities that will never happen. There are a number of reasons why, not the least of which is that the Mashpee have progressed on their proposal in Taunton. The other primary reason is that they don't have a site. The mayor says they have "2 sites in mind, one waterfront, one not on the waterfront." The waterfront site is Weaver's Cove (where the gas tanks are along the big bend of Route 79 just before the new bridge). Weaver's Cover is a Brownfield site and will require a lengthy investigation into how it needs to be cleaned up, then a cost analysis on whether or not it's even feasible to clean and build there. Beyond that, the site is also the location of the layover station for South Coast Rail. A layover station that's been approved by the environmental impact study. Theoretically, both the casino and layover station could exist on the site. However, that requires cooperation between MassDOT/MBTA and Fall River/Foxwoods. That's asking a lot. Furthermore, it means a luxury casino and hotel will be built with part of the development overlooking a large commuter rail yard. Not an easy sell.

The second site is in the Biopark (off of Route 24 exit 8b). If you remember, there was a proposal for this site a few years ago that fell off the face of the earth. The reason why it fell off the face of the earth is because the Biopark is zoned for specific types of industry and use. A casino does not fall into that category. Fall River fought that last time and lost. There's no reason to believe that it'll be any different this time around.