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Could the former Odenbach Shipyard in Greece be the site of a new casino?

Brokers representing West Coast buyers interested in the 66-acre site think so.

Christopher Westfall of Pyramid Brokerage Company said his firm is in talks with not only retailers and restaurateurs about locating at the site, but also with unnamed casino operators. The developers also released a preliminary conception of what a retail complex at the site might look like, and a working name: the Parkway Commons and Waterside development site.

"We think a casino would be fantastic there," said Westfall. "We heard Henrietta shot down theirs, and we don't know yet if Greece would be in favor, but that really could be a great location for a destination such as that."

Westfall also would not say which other potential tenants his clients have been courting for their new development.

A possible casino has been a hot topic in Henrietta, where the Town Board last month passed a resolution opposing the establishment of a casino there, just a few weeks after the Seneca Gaming Corp., on behalf of the Seneca Nation, bought 32 acres of land off Clay Road as a potential development site.

Story: Historic Greece site may be sold

Greece Supervisor Bill Reilich said it was too early for him to gauge how serious the developers were about a casino.

"I think anyone with 20 or 50 acres of land anywhere around the Rochester area is going to be saying, 'Hey, this would be a great spot for a casino,' " he said. "But I'm really not giving it a whole lot of attention until I see something more formal."

And, he said, he's unsure whether he could support it. "In my experience with these locations, from what I've witnessed in Niagara Falls or Atlantic City, the design of these is to hold people within the four walls, where they eat there and shop there and gamble there and stay in their hotel. Then you walk 50 feet outside the walls of the casino and see there's no economic gain, no spillover to the neighboring parcels and all of the benefit has gone to the entity constructing the casino."

But if an application comes in, Reilich said, "we would deal with it. But until then, I can't take it seriously unless I have a request in front of me."

The concept plan for Parkway Commons shows a mix of office space, sport and recreation-based retail and restaurants with outdoor seating. The plan shows mooring spots for small watercraft and incorporates the channel Odenbach Shipyard used to launch its ships into Round Pond and then into Lake Ontario.

Westfall said developers hope to take advantage of the Odenbach site's location on Round Pond, access to Lake Ontario and its proximity to walking and bike trails along the Lake Ontario State Parkway.

"It would be great to incorporate those paths and have a detour into our facility," he said. "You could be walking or biking and come into our site for the restaurants and have a nice dinner on a deck overlooking the water."

Still, there are hurdles to overcome before the property, once a World War II shipyard, then a Cold War bomber and missile factory, then a scrap recycling center, actually changes hands. It is listed as a state Superfund site, and cleanup to remove a toxic mess of industrial solvents and other pollutants from groundwater and soil is ongoing.

Westfall said his clients were working with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to hash out a remediation plan.

"We are seeing what needs to be done to make the site usable," he said. "If they're looking for us to bring this up to drinking water standards because they want a day care there, I don't know if that's reasonable, but if they give us a plan that makes sense, this project has legs."

Demolition of an existing building on the site could begin in coming weeks, he said.

If the sale is finalized and Pyramid were able to secure a casino operator interested in Greece, there would still be significant hurdles to clear before anything could happen: The Seneca Nation has exclusive rights to provide Class III casino gaming in New York from state Route 14 in Ontario County west to the Pennsylvania state line. And, the Senecas' compact with the state would have to be amended to allow a fourth Seneca casino complex in western New York.

And, while state voters last year approved the opening of up to seven state-approved casinos, initial plans call for approving four in upstate New York, and none in the Rochester area.

BOSTON (AP) — The debate over whether voters should be allowed to decide the fate of Las Vegas-style casino gambling in Massachusetts had its day before the state's highest court Monday.

The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in an appeal over a proposed November ballot question that would effectively repeal the 2011 law that opened the door for at least three regional casinos and one slot parlor in Massachusetts. The court is expected to rule on the case sometime before July.

The anti-casino group "Repeal the Casino Deal" gathered the required 68,911 signatures from voters to place the question on the ballot. But the state Attorney General's office ruled in September that the proposal violated the state constitution and declined to certify it.

In court Monday, Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks argued that the ballot question is not permissible because it would result in casino developers losing property rights without being compensated. He said gambling companies have an "implied contractual right" to see the casino licensing process completed given the significant financial investment they have made in developing and promoting their projects.

Sacks said the situation is akin to when a company applies for a government contract through the public bidding process. Applicants in that instance, he said, are entitled to recovering certain costs if the public body does not complete the process.

But Thomas Bean, a lawyer representing "Repeal the Casino Deal," countered that compensation isn't required since there are no existing property or contract rights. Instead, he argued that the state has the right to revisit and revise laws impacting "public morals and welfare" at any time through its so-called "police powers."

Justices on the seven-member panel pushed back on that assertion.

"The police powers don't trump the state constitution," said Justice Robert Cordy. "You can't say, 'We have police powers therefore we can take contract rights away without compensation.'"

He noted that state gambling regulators have already awarded a slot parlor license to Penn National Gaming to expand gambling at Plainridge Racecourse, a harness racing track in Plainville.

"So a five -year exclusive license that's already been awarded after a thorough process and at a substantial cost to the applicant can simply be taken away with a big 'never mind'?" said Cordy. "You can do that? Without compensation? Wow."

Both sides in the casino debate said that they were encouraged by the court's inquiry.

Michael Mathis, president of MGM Springfield, which proposes an $800 million casino project, said the justices were right to ask about the potentially "chilling" impact on Massachusetts' business climate.

"We deserve an opportunity to go forward," he said, adding that the company has spent between $30 million and $40 million in its bid to win the sole casino license in the state's western region. "To not even get to the point of opening our facility...is troubling, as a business that looks at investment opportunities and evaluates risk."

Slot machine revenue at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course was down more than 10 percent in April from a year ago, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Friday.

Hollywood Casiono's slot machine revenue last month totaled nearly $18.3 million. The casino, located in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, took in more than $20.3 million in April last year, according to the gaming control board.

Slot machine revenue at the 12 casinos in the state dropped 3.6 percent last month compared to the same month last year, the gaming control board reported.

Statewide, April's gross revenue from the play of slot machines statewide was $197,760,977 compared to $205,155,406 in April 2013. The board also reported that the amount of tax revenue generated from slot machine play during this April was $105,766,654.

Haggling over legislation to bring a casino to Chicago has become a springtime ritual. This time around, state Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, has dealt out two new amendments that just might get the job done.

To our way of thinking, that’s welcome news, but only if the talks in Springfield have no influence on City Hall’s continued efforts to sharply reduce costs, especially the costs of pensions. Chicago’s finances are in dire straits, and a casino — years down the road, if ever — promises at best a relatively shallow pot of gold.

The Legislature has twice passed gambling bills, but both were vetoed by Gov. Pat Quinn. Last year’s version never made it as far as Quinn’s desk. But Rita has been holding meetings since summer and full-fledged hearings since January to try to shape a bill that can actually pass. His latest two amendments, floated at a hearing on Wednesday, both would give Chicago a casino.

The narrower version would provide for a single Chicago casino that could be the largest in the world, with revenues divided between the city and state. The broader plan would add four other casinos in southern Cook County, Lake County, Vermilion County and Winnebago County, as well as slot machines at most horse-racing tracks. Chicago’s casino under that scenario would be smaller, with a maximum of 4,000 positions instead of 10,000.

We’d be fine with a Chicago-only plan, because the city, which already draws many visitors, is the best place in the state to plunk down a new casino — or any casino. A city casino would not only encourage current visitors to spend more money while they are here, but also draw additional travelers and conventioneers, people who would spend money in restaurants, hotels and stores. Facing serious financial problems, Chicago needs the financial boost. We share the concerns of critics that casinos bring problems, such as binge gambling and crime, but that’s already here, just past the city limits and over the state line.

The Chicago-only plan might not fly in Springfield, where many lawmakers salivate at the thought of the casino revenues and jobs that could boost struggling towns such as Rockford and Danville. In the end, unfortunately, the plan that works politically might prove to be the broader option for five new casinos. A strength of both casino bills is that they call for all revenues to be earmarked for education, capital projects and pensions.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made it clear he wants to reform the city’s finances before pursuing casino revenues. He really has no choice. Revenues from a casino wouldn’t begin to flow, city officials say, and even after seven years of operation likely wouldn’t produce more than $120 million annually.

If that seems like a lot of money, consider this: Chicago’s pension liability alone comes to $19.8 billion.

At its very best, that is to say, a Chicago casino would never be more than a somewhat modest part of the solution to the city’s problems.

The question now is where Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan stand. Members of the Emanuel administration did not testify on Wednesday, but if the mayor wants this to be the spring that casino legislation becomes law, he needs to go to Springfield and make his case.

There is a real chance for a serious bill to emerge this legislative session.

The Club Cal Neva and Siri’s Casino will host a Job Fair on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. inside the Club Cal Neva Event Room on the third floor of the casino.

Both casinos will accept applications for all positions both full and part-time.

Managers from all departments will be on hand to accept applications and conduct interviews

Bulgarian regulator the State Commission on Gambling (SCG) has expanded its blacklist of unlicensed iGaming domains with the addition of five new sites, including domains operated by Cherry Casino and GVC-owned Sportingbet.

The new additions take the total number of blacklisted sites to 203, with the country’s internet service providers required to block Bulgarian players from accessing the sites.