The next step for the Philly Live! Casino involves, of all things, an old Holiday Inn. It is bad news for the budget hotel, but good news for the casino developers.
It might also be bad news for the Philly Live! moniker. Paperwork indicates there might be name change on the horizon for the forthcoming property.
Razing Holiday Inn before breaking ground
City officials granted Cordish Company and its development partner Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc. the required permits to start breaking ground on a nine-acre area nestled in the Stadium Park area of Philadelphia, PA.
The permit okays five restaurants, night club space, and the all-important parking garage to gwith the Pennsylvania casino.
Before Philly Live! can break ground, first the Holiday Inn has to go. Once the hotel is razed, the lot will be completely clear and ready to start construction.
The group hopes to break ground in 2018. The final casino will ideally be done in 2020.
RIP Philly Live!?
While the news of the project moving forward is interesting, there is some fine print in the permits raising eyebrows as well. Rather than call the property Philly Live!, as the group has in most communication to this point, the name on the permits was Stadium Casino.
Now, to be clear, the operating business name on the project is Stadium Casino LLC. However, Cordish always referred to the $600 million project as Philly Live!
Elements of the permit requiring the name of the property do not include Philly Live! though. Instead, it says Stadium Casino.
A name change of an announced property is certainly a surprise, but far from uncomon. For example, Resorts World Catskills in New York, which is opening next month, originally intended to be Montreign Casino.
What is interesting in this case is that they are pivoting away from Cordish’s most famous brand. In the case of the New York property, the change was to a brand name more New Yorkers would recognize.
Cordish holds a wide variety of successful retail, hotel, and casino spaces under a variety of names. However, the Live! brand is far and away the most well-known brand of the bunch.
There are currently Live! properties throughout the US, including states like:
- Maryland
- Kentucky
- Texas
- Missouri
Moreover, Cordish already owns and operates Xfinity Live! in Philadelphia. The casino will be incorporated into the existing shopping and entertainment complex.
Live! is a brand the group is even taking international. They are attempting to develop a property in Spain called Live! Resorts Madrid.
Philly.com, who broke the news about the permits, reached out to Cordish, but did not get a comment regarding a potential name change.
