Joseph P Procacci Made His Fortune in the Tomato Business
The Procacci Brothers have until November 20 to secure financing for a proposed $225 million casino in Lawrence County, said the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board recently. The group which controls the project has until June 1 to submit the proper applications, while they have until June 15 to submit information which had been previously previously.
The Procacci Bros., led by Joseph Procacci, own a tomato fortune in South Philadelphia. They also own Endeka Entertainment LP, along with Merit Management Group. In early April, Endeka Entertainment lost out on a casino bid. Recently, though, Robert Procacci replaced Penn National Gaming Inc. as the general partner for Lawrence Downs Casino and Racing Resort, which is proposed for Mahoning Township–north of Pittsburgh.
Endeka Entertainment Welcomes Procacci Group
A lawyer and spokesman for Endeka Entertainment said on receiving the news, “We look forward to working with our new partner, the Procacci group, and we appreciate the board’s willingness to allow additional time to finalize details.”
The plan is to finance the Lawrence Downs Casino and Racing Resort. Lawrence Downs is a proposed $225 million development set for New Castle, which is part of the Mahoning Township. Previously, the 87-year old Joseph G. Procacci had been part of the Casino Revolution proposal, which was rejected.
Merit Management Group Is Important
The difference this time appears to be the inclusion of the Merit Management Group. Pennsylvania newspaper writers believe this latest opportunity might be the last chance to save the Western Pennsylvania casino project, which has been up for consideration since 2013.
The Lawrence County project, as it is sometimes called, stalled because requested information was not provided to the Gaming Control Board about the financial partners involved in the deal. The Gaming Control Board wants to be able to property vet the investors, so they know the casino project is on solid financial footing.
Philadelphia Investment Group
Funding for the project is based around a Philadelphia-area group of investors, including insurance executive Manuel Stamatakis. Because Mr. Stamatakis is not involved in the gambling industry, the Gaming Control Board is less familiar with his qualifications and financial status. While that complicates the matter, the key facet in the rejection of previous proposals had to do with the failure to comply with procedure rules in submitting the proper paperwork.
From 2013 until April 2015, Penn National Gaming Inc. was the head of the Lawrence Downs Casino and Racing Resort. Penn National, which has gaming ventures throughout the United States, pulled out of the project because it believes market saturation could hurt returns on this latest gaming venture.
Control Board Willing to Consider Extension
Because of the withdrawal of Penn National Gaming, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was willing to consider the modifications the Procacci Group had asked them to consider. In a unanimous vote, Penn was allowed to withdraw and Endeka was given the 6-month extension. Also, a $50 million bond sale by Penn, meant to finance construction, was released by the Gaming Control Board.
Joseph Procacci is seen as the natural replacement for Penn National Gaming. Merit Management is expected to develop the casino project, then manage the property once the casino begins operations. John O’Riordan, a lawyer for Procacci, said that financial deals are still being worked out, though.
New Bond Sale Expected
O’Riordan said that he expects a new bond sale to be approved which would involve investments in the Procacci project. The Procacci Group has until November 20, 2015 to finalize all details of the deal and its financing plan. Several provisions were made, besides those already stipulated, which are needed to keep the deal alive.
One, the group needs to make monthly progress reports to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, to let them know how the financing plan is developing. Two, they need to submit the paperwork which had not been filed properly before. If all these stipulations are met, it would appear that the Control Board is ready to approve a second casino license in the Pittsburgh area.
