New Bedford Casino Developer KG Urban Drops Casino Proposal
KG Urban Enterprises, a real estate development firm based out of New York had invested over $10 million during an 8 year pursuit to secure the rights to build a casino in New Bedford, which is located in the south east of Massachusetts.
The company was planning to construct a mega-casino resort on the New Bedford waterfront that was estimated to be around $650 million. KG Urban had planned to build a unique glass-walled casino complex that would provide its patrons with a stunning view of the historic New Bedford harbor.
KG Urban shocked a lot of people including government officials in Massachusetts after it announced that it was withdrawing its bid to construct the New Bedford casino.
The company stated that it was unable to raise sufficient finances to proceed with the project as its investors were skeptical about the success of the casino based on the market conditions of the gambling industry in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has faced stiff competition from neighboring states such as Connecticut and Rhode Island as locals have preferred to cross state borders and visit new casinos. The state will also see two new mega-casinos opened up in the next couple of years as MGM Resorts is building one in Springfield and Wynn Resorts has proposed to build one in Everett. KG Urban investors were concerned about the competition, the size of the gambling market in Massachusetts and the percentage of revenue that the New Bedford casino would be able to generate.
At the end of the day, they were not convinced that the investment at this point of time would be the right decision and KG Urban was forced to drop its eight year long quest of building a casino in New Bedford. Jon Mitchell, the mayor of New Bedford backed KG Urban as he expected the casino to create jobs for his city and bring in revenue to improve the community. He was disappointed with the KG Urban’s decision to back out of a deal that he had approved.
In a statement, Mitchell said
KG Urban’s decision to abandon the Cannon Street project is an extreme disappointment and a great shock. City leadership and the people of New Bedford relied on these assurances in casting their enthusiastic support for the project. We have been united as a community and have done everything possible to support, so city residents and its leadership are all understandably upset
