WPCNR DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK. By John F. Bailey and  Compilation From Press Reports. November 17, 2004, UPDATED 1:00 P.M. E.S.T.: The Empire Resorts purchase of the Concord Hotel and Grossinger’s Hotel properties from Louis Cappelli and Reckson Strategic Venture last week, reported by Dow Jones and now  the Associated Press Monday, is reported by the Middletown Times Herald-Record in a story published last week to be the beginning of a two-casino deal.

Super Developer Louis Cappelli: Sells Concord & Grossingers for 40% Stake in Empire Resorts. Mr. Cappelli is seen on the schmooz at the White Plains Performing Arts Center Gala last week. Photo by WPCNR News

In this gamble,  Mr. Cappelli’s former property, the Concord would house one casino owned by the Seneca Cayuga tribe of Oklahoma, and the New York Cayugas would open a casino at the Monticello Racetrack.  However, Mr. Cappelli's selling of the Concord is not what it seems.

Mr. Cappelli still technically has a big piece of the Concord and the legendary Grossinger's, because he and Reckson Strategic Venture Partners now own 40% of Empire Resorts.

Mr. Cappelli and his junior partner, Reckson Strategic Venture Partners, owners of Concord Associates, have sold their Concord and Grossingers Hotels to Empire Resorts in exchange for 18 Million shares of Empire Resorts Stock worth $196 Million at the close of Tuesday's trading (giving them control of  40% of Empire Resorts.)  Empire Resorts trades publicly on the NASDAQ  Small Capitalization market at about $12 a share.  (At the close of trading Tuesday, Empire Resorts traded at $10.88 a share, off 51 cents at the close, making Mr. Cappelli and Reckson owners of shares valued at $195,840,000, as 1 P.M. it is at $11.53 a share, up 65 cents.)

It’s a windfall profit for Cappelli and his Reckson partners who acquired the Concord and Grossinger’s resorts for $16 Million in 1998.

Mr. Cappelli and Reckson Strategic Venture Partners, according to terms of the deal acquire a 40% stake (18 Million shares of Empire Resorts stock valued at $205 Million) through stock in Empire Resorts which lends credibility to the MiddletownTimes Herald-Record story of the Concord being the site of a double-casino attraction in the sleepy Catskills.

The partnership with Empire Resorts may allow Mr. Cappelli to bring his expertise in construction to a new level: casino gaming.