The partners are focusing on a sole investor and could have an announcement "by the end of the month," Cozen said. He declined to identify the potential new operator, saying only that it was a gaming company "with operations internationally."
In 2006, the local Foxwoods investors chose a subsidiary of the Mashantucket Pequots to design, finance, and run the casino. The tribe put up $30 million for one-third of the profits. Since then, it has developed serious money problems stemming from a drop in revenue at its flagship casino in Ledyard, Conn.
Cozen said the local investors "hope and assume" the tribe's subsidiary will remain an investor. But, he added, the Mashantucket Pequots do "not have the wherewithal to carry forward this kind of venture."
The main local partners in Foxwoods are charitable trusts for the families of three entrepreneurs: New Jersey businessman Lewis Katz, Center City developer Ron Rubin, and Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider.
Over the summer their project was in jeopardy.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board forced them to abandon the idea of putting the casino in Center City. They were ordered back to the waterfront in South Philadelphia, the original plan in 2006 when they won one of the two coveted licenses for slots in the city.
But the clock was ticking faster than the investors could line up financing to build on 16 vacant acres on Columbus Boulevard.
They warned state regulators that they were so pressed for time that they might have to hastily erect a temporary structure first. Its license required Foxwoods to have 1,500 slot machines operating by May 29, 2011.
Relief came from the General Assembly.
Under orders from Rendell to generate new revenue from gaming to fill budget holes, legislators produced a bill to add table games such as poker and blackjack at casinos.
