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(TGA) - BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania -- The mayor of Bethlehem, Pa., wants Las Vegas Sands Corp. to set a construction timeline for the Sands Bethlehem's stalled hotel, mall and conference center.
Mayor John Callahan asked the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to make the timeline part of the casino's relicensing.
"Bethlehem and the state invested a great deal in this project and are entitled to a firmer timetable for restarting construction," Callahan said.
Las Vegas Sands plans to wait until the financial markets improve before restarting a 300-room hotel, 200,000-square-foot mall and 46,000-square-foot conference center.
Las Vegas Sands President Michael Leven, at gaming conference in Las Vegas last month, said the company would not evaluate restarting the hotel's construction until the end of the year, and only after the casino adds table games, which were recently approved by the state.
"We have no plans to start the hotel again … until we can justify it financially," Leven said.
The mayor said he still supports the license renewal for Sands Bethlehem, which opened last May with 3,000 slot machines and several restaurants on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Mill.
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This article has it right.
No hotel at the Sands before 2011-2012 at the earliest.
The Sands has all their eggs financially in Macau.
And quite honestly there is not nearly enough business in Bethlehem to justify a 100+ million dollar investment to a hotel that would look like the Water Club.
Full of comps on weekends and closed during the week.
Anybody looking seriously at the economy and at the Sand's priorities can not think that Bethlehem can support 300 rooms and a 200,000 square foot mall any time soon.
It will come in time. But The Sands will string it out and there not a thing that the city of Bethlehem can do to make it any sooner.
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That whole project is a mess.
The city has gotten so much push back from the Sands. So many promises...so few kept.
I guess Bethlehem is stuck in a catch 22 - if they don't support their license renewal, what money is coming into the coffers may stop...but the city, county & state dumped so much money into infrastructure without the casino keeping its end of the bargain.
*le sigh* from a local
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You really can not blame Sands, its the same everywhere. Look at AC, Pinnacle and MGM have pulled out, Revel is on hold like the Sands, the same thing is happening everywhere, Vegas, Phila, the economy is bad, financing is tight, you can not blame the casinos, it is not a NJ or PA contest, its bad everywhere. Promises were made when the economy was strong, no one could predict what has happened, would be great if all the AC, PA, De, NY etc, etc casinos were doing great, that would mean the economy was doing great. The success of casinos is based on disposable income, too many people are concerned with the success of PA casinos at the expense of NJ casinos, and vice versa. What we need is for all casinos to do well, no matter where they are located, the success of one does not require the demise of another. Of course this does not only pertain to casinos, we should be rooting for all banks, investment firms, automobile companies, etc.
No town, nor city, nor state should depend on a casino to be its saving grace, yes, you hope it will contribute, provide jobs, tax dollars, tourism, but do not bet your last dollar on it.
Edited: 11:17 pm, February 12, 2010
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"That whole project is a mess."
From another local, you have summed it up perfectly.
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Another interesting fact, in December, PA Casinos beat AC casinos for the first time, The Sands came in 5th place out of 9 casinos, had 17+ million in slot revenue. #1 was Parx wit 24+ mil, #2 was Harrahs Chester with 23+ mill, after that the numbers fell off drastically. To me, what this indicates is yes, people will stay local if possible, gamble at the closest casino. both Parx and Chester are convenient to Phila, Phila has a large population so they should do well also shows that the PA casinos in PA are not drawing from other areas, yes, they are taking a significant amount of business from AC, but no, if you live in Bethlehem and expect the casino to bring in people from throughout the country you are wrong.
Local casinos will keep locals home, no need to travel to AC anymore, but do not ecpect a single casino to attract tourists from around the country.
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The entire problem is the amount they are giving away in free play and cash to winners on Tuesday. People are coming in just playing the free play and winning $1700 or more and then leaving. They dont eat in the restaurants since the food is too expensive and doesnt fit the main demographic (i.e., came on a bus and are 70+)
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