What ever happened to the plans for the Live! Casino? Two years later, still stuck in court

The last news we shared with you about the Live! Casino planned for Packer Avenue was related to the master plan’s approval and the necessary zoning changes also being approved. While the casino may have jumped through those hoops already, the real challenge is making it through the court proceedings that have stalled the Cordish Company’s plans for this casino.

Now that it’s been two years since the Cordish Company was awarded a license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, what is happening with the casino? Due to appeals filed to the state Supreme Court by SugarHouse and the Market East Associates, the project is not moving forward very quickly.

From Philly.com:

In March, the state’s high court issued an opinion that, in large part, upheld the gaming board’s decision to award the license to Stadium Casino, but the justices told the gaming board to look more closely at two narrow issues: whether Watche Manoukian, who owns 85.84 percent of Parx and would own 28.33 percent of Stadium Casino, is eligible for the category of license Stadium sought, and whether his financial interest in Stadium — as opposed to ownership interest — exceeds limits in Pennsylvania law.

In June, the Gaming Control Board published a document concluding that Stadium Casino should still get the license. That decision unleashed a storm of objections by SugarHouse and Market East.

They argued in briefs that the gaming board not only got the two questions it was supposed to address wrong, but also that the board violated the Supreme Court’s order by not holding additional hearings. SugarHouse also said the board violated the Sunshine Act by not holding public meetings before responding to the Supreme Court.

If the plans for the Live! Casino manage to make it out of this mess of court proceedings, construction could begin in just a few months.