By Peter Gleason
Philly is one City Council vote away from approval for the city’s second casino and fifth in the region.
The city Planning Commission voted today to permit the Live! Hotel & Casino Philadelphia project contingent on future City Council action that would tweak the proposed location’s zoning to allow the development in its current form.
Cordish Companies and Greenwood Racing Inc. would own the 200,000-square-foot facility that would be located near the Holiday Inn.
The cost of constructing the casino — which will include hotel rooms, thousands of slot machines and hundreds of table games — would be approximately $400 million.
The commission’s action represents a significant advance for the proposal, which has been delayed by gaming-license challenges
Stadium Casino L.L.C. – a partnership of Cordish Cos., of Baltimore, and Greenwood Racing Inc., owner of Parx Casino in Bensalem – is proposing for the city’s second casino a $500 million development at 900 Packer Ave. in Philadelphia’s stadium district.
Plans call for a 19-story hotel tower attached to a seven-story parking structure, with gaming, dining and entertainment on the complex’s ground floor. The parking structure also would feature a landscaped “green” roof.
