The Philadelphia City Council has advanced plans for a new privately financed $450 million resort casino in the city's stadium district estimated to generate $100 million in new tax revenue over the next five years.
The council's rules committee voted on Nov. 16 to approve zoning for Stadium Casino, LLC's plans to build a casino and hotel in South Philadelphia. The project, which was awarded a casino license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in late 2014, is a partnership between The Cordish Companies and Parx Casino. The developers are planning a Las Vegas-style casino floor with more than 2,000 slot machines and 125 table games along with an upscale boutique hotel.
"We appreciate the confidence shown in our team by the City Council," Zed Smith, COO of The Cordish Companies and Tony Ricci, CEO of Parx Casino, said in a statement. "We can't wait to get started in creating thousands of jobs and career opportunities for the people of Philadelphia."
Stadium Casino expects that the development will generate more than $2 billion in economic activity and $100 million in tax revenue during its first five years of operation with $25 million going to the Philadelphia School District. The project is also slated to create 3,000 new construction jobs that will generate roughly $145 million in estimated new wages and salaries. An additional 2,000 new permanent jobs are also planned once the casino is completed.
Philadelphia is rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service, A-plus by Standard & Poor's and A-minus by Fitch Ratings. The Philadelphia School District is rated Ba3 by Moody's and is borrowing $250 million this month due to an over four month delay passing a fiscal 2016 Pennsylvania budget.
