Applications due today in battle for final casino license

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Applications due today in battle for final casino license

Three players vying to build a casino in the southeastern part of the state have until 5 p.m. today to submit updated applications to the state Gaming Commission for the last of three Massachusetts casino licenses.

KG Urban wants to build a Foxwoods casino on the New Bedford waterfront; Crossroads Massachusetts/Somerset on the Move, wants to build in Somerset off Interstate 195; and Mass Gaming and Entertainment has filed for a Brockton casino that will go before voters there in May.

KG and Crossroads had requested extensions until today to file materials responsive to “deficiencies” the commission flagged in their initial filings, commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.

New York-based KG Urban — run by the son of former NBA Commissioner David Stern — has yet to reach a pact with New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, with whom KG would have to strike a host community agreement. KG spokesman Andrew Paven said yesterday the firm is “hopeful” and “engaged in substantive conversations” with Mitchell.

The next step will be their “Phase 2” applications, due May 26, that will specify, among other things, the sites applicants are proposing to build on.

Also looming is the possibility that the Mashpee Wampanoags will win federal approval to place land in the area into trust, freeing it to build a rival casino there.

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