Foxwoods Releases Revamped Casino Plan, Offers Milford $31M a year

Foxwoods has dramatically increased the scale of its resort casino plan for Milford, proposing 2.8 million square-feet of gaming, entertainment and hotel space, including a 5,400-space parking garage.

As a result of the larger development, payments to the town would increase to $34 million in one-time, up-front payments, plus $31 million a year, according to a document released Sunday by Foxwoods Massachusetts.

Milford Selectmen will meet Wednesday to discuss the new proposal. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera said the town would also receive a proportion of the profits from the gaming business.

Foxwoods redesigned its proposal after Milford Selectmen reviewed an initial draft, in which one member called for additional funds for the town, and after the Suffolk Downs proposal in East Boston was made public by Boston Mayor Tom Menino. That project featured a much more lucrative deal for the host community, in terms of annual and upfront payments.

The proposed $34 million initial payment, and $31 million in annual payment to Milford represents almost a doubling of the initial package.

Previously, Foxwoods Massachusetts had promised $18 million to Milford in continuing payments, $15 million in a one-time payment to a community fund, plus up-front and continuing expenses for police and fire.

In its summary, distributed to media Sunday morning, Foxwoods Massachusetts emphasizes that per-capita, the deal in Milford would pay more over time than the proposals in Boston or Everett.

Under the revised development plan:

Excluding the parking garage, the development would be 980,000 square-feet.

About a quarter of that, or 205,000 square-feet, would be devoted to casino gambling, including 5,100 slot machines, 160 game tables, and 60 poker tables. The number of seats for gaming would increase to 6,700 — slightly more than the Suffolk Downs proposal in East Boston and about 1,000 seats more than is proposed for the Wynn Resorts development in Everett, according to a Foxwoods summary.

In other changes, the hotel would increase from 350 to 500 rooms and add two floors. The parking garage will increase from 2,800 to 5,400 spaces; the number of restaurants will increase from five to 10, not including 450 seats at an undisclosed number of bars. The banquet/ballroom space will increase from 25,000 to 30,000 square-feet.