News
KING OF PRUSSIA ROLLS THE DICE
March 22, 2012
| At midnight on March 31, the roulette wheel will start to spin (finally). And after a few drinks, these will spin too: a 30k SF gaming floor with 500 tables and some 600 slots, seven restaurants, a nightclub, a tavern, 100k SF of conference space, and some 460 hotel rooms. |
 |
| We're, of course, talking about King of Prussia's Valley Forge Casino Resort, Philly's fourth area gaming complex. We got up-close-and-personal with the nearly-completed construction site earlier this week. According to casino CEO Sal Scheri, being a “resort casino” should give it an edge over its competitors, including nearby Parx Casino, the SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown, and the Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack. |
 |
| Sal (left) beaming like a new father when his first slot machines arrived. Sal's previous gig had him leading a gaming and hospitality consulting group known as WhiteSand Gaming, but he claims to be an even bigger fan of the operations side of the biz. With nearly 30 years in the industry, he's held executive positions with everyone from Trump Taj Mahal, Golden Nugget Atlantic City, and Deloitte & Touche. The private investment group behind the casino has a pretty impressive resume itself: It's led by long-time real estate developer Ira Lubert, who also owns a majority of the Valley Forge Convention Center. Also on the investment team: GF Management CEO Ken Kochenour, GF executive Barbara Evans, local attorney Michael Heller, and hedge-funder Jon Lubert. |
 |
| It may give some Atlantic City regulars—or even local casino-goers—a sense of deja vu: The same team responsible for both SugarHouse Casino and Caesars Atlantic City (Philadelphia's Cope Linder Architects) did the design, which is being referred to as "feng-shui influenced." The almost otherworldly interiors were pulled together by the gang at Philadelphia firm Floss Barber, which also outfitted SugarHouse. |
