From the Hudson Reporter:
Manzo, whose district includes all of Bayonne and parts of Jersey City, put his cards on the table when he explained his initiative and the potential benefits of bringing the gaming industry to the Meadowlands region.
“We want to go to the voters with a referendum to ratify putting casinos in the Meadowlands in the same way that it was done in Atlantic City in the 1970s,” he said. “We’re not changing any existing law. We’re creating a new law that would amend the New Jersey constitution.”
Manzo noted that the potential introduction of the gaming industry to the Meadowlands could also boost a venture that many observers see as a dice roll: the Xanadu entertainment and retail project, tentatively scheduled to open in 2008.
The controversial $2 billion development has suffered a series of setbacks, including construction delays, cost overruns, lawsuits, and severe financial problems suffered by the original developer, the Mills Corp.
The project is now under the guidance of Colony Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, which obtained control of the development in November 2006. The deal was approved by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), which oversees the Meadowlands sports complex.
“This plan jumpstarts Xanadu and potentially saves it from the scrap heap,” Manzo said. “The economy has turned a little bit, and there doesn’t seem to be the incentive to invest the revenue needed to get Xanadu up and running. A casino would generate immense pressure to get Xanadu off the ground, because Xanadu’s investors and builders would want to get it going by the time the casino gets there.”
Manzo’s plan includes the construction of only one casino, with the number of slot machines to be determined by population and other economic factors. Manzo also hopes to tax Meadowlands gambling profits by 50 percent, with the accumulated revenue to be used to help pay off New Jersey’s debt, estimated to be as high as $100 billion.
February EXISTING HOME SALES down bigtime vs. year/year !!!
READ
The NAR f*cks over the gullible MSM and sheeple, leads them to believe used home sales were up last month. That was NOT the case.
http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/2007/03/nar-fcks-over-gullible-msm-and-sheeple.html
Dubious NAR report shows home sales continue to crater, off 3.7% vs. last year, while unsold inventory explodes by another 763,000 units and median sales price (without incentives) is down 7.6% from peak
February used home sales (per the dubious NAR numbers) were supposedly 387,000 units, vs. 402,000 units February 2006, down 3.7%. Inventory is now at 3,748,000, vs. 2,985,000 in February 2006, up 763,000 unwanted homes, or 25.6%. And the median sales price (without cash back or incentives) in February of $212,800 is down $17,400 from the July 2006 peak.