HARRISBURG — Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., gained the opportunity to build a casino in the Shippensburg area after being awarded the fourth auction for Category 4 casino permits in the Commonwealth, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment’s bid of $8,111,000 was actually the second highest bid submitted, the Gaming Control Board said in a press release. But the high bidder, Sands Bethworks Gaming, LLC, but its stated potential casino location intruded into an area that was earlier secured by Mount Airy #1 LLC at a previous auction, the Gaming Control Board said.
As a result, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., which runs the Parx Casino in Bucks County, secured its location and placement of a Category 4 casino somewhere within a 15-mile radius area with a center point in South Newton Township.
Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc. is required to pay the bid price to the Commonwealth within two business days, and then has up to six months to submit an application for the Category 4 Slot Machine License.
The application will contain the precise site of the proposed Category 4 casino, as well as detailed plans and information concerning the proposed building plan, amenities, employment projections and other related information.
Once the application is received and determined to be complete, the Board will post public information about the project on its website for interested persons to review.
A Category 4 Slot Machine License would permit the entity to operate between 300 and 750 slot machines. The entity could also petition for permission to initially operate up to 30 table games for an additional fee of $2.5 million with the capability of adding an additional 10 tables games after its first year of operation.
The results of the first three auctions:
- January 10, 2018: Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, LLC, which operates Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, was the high bidder with a bid of $50,100,000. The center of that Category 4 location is in the Borough of Yoe in York County.
- January 24, 2018: Stadium Casino, LLC, which holds a Category 2 license and will construct a casino in Philadelphia, was the high bidder with a bid of $40,100,005. The center of the Category 4 location is in Derry Township in Westmoreland County.
- February 8, 2018: Mount Airy #1, LLC which operates the Mount Airy Casino Resort, was the high bidder with a bid of $21,188,888.88. The center of that Category 4 location is in the City of New Castle in Lawrence County.
The Gaming Control Board plans to hold its next public auction on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in its Harrisburg Public Hearing Room in Strawberry Square just prior to its regularly scheduled Board meeting. Subsequent auctions are planned every two weeks thereafter on Wednesdays at the same time and location.
