Stephen Starr’s restaurant group continued its push for a new concept that is part of forthcoming entertainment-and-sports-betting space Bankroll at a virtual Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on Tuesday.
More details were revealed about the planned 1910 Chestnut St. restaurant, which requires a zoning special exception to move forward. The 18,000-square-foot project is planned to boast approximately 400 seats across three bars and slightly more than 100 tables, said Michael Palermo, vice president of development, construction and facilities at Starr Restaurants.
Bankroll at the Boyd Restaurant, slated for the historic former Boyd Theatre and neighboring old Gap store, will include five different venues, Palermo noted. There will be a “large great space” with seating for about 100 guests, a "more formal restaurant" at the front of the building on the first floor that can accommodate about 130 guests; a smaller, roughly 50-seat bar on the mezzanine; an approximately 40-guest event space on the mezzanine that can handle private parties; and an area with “living room seating pods” also on the second floor that can accommodate about 60 guests.
The larger bar in the great room will include about 25 stools, while the other two bars are smaller. One will accommodate up to eight guests and the other a dozen.
Palermo described Bankroll as a "boutique restaurant that is sports focused.” The idea is for the different venues to satisfy various interests of guests visiting the concept.
“The restaurant is being built and developed to be comfortable for sports enthusiasts and also comfortable for guests that are not primarily interested in sports,” Palermo said.
Bankroll is rather sizable, exceeding the occupancy of other nearby Starr restaurants. For example, The Continental Midtown at 1801 Chestnut St. can accommodate about 350 guests during peak season; Barclay Prime at 237 S. 18th St. can accommodate about 140 guests; and Parc at 227 S. 18th St. can accommodate about 280 guests, Palermo said.
Other nearby Center City restaurants from Starr include The Love at 130 S. 18th St. and The Dandelion at 124 S. 18th St.
The entire Bankroll project comes from a group of businessmen that is led by Bullpen Capital founder and CEO Paul Martino, the first U.S. investor in FanDuel.
Bankroll never intended to nor will apply for a gaming license, Palermo said.
That frees the concept from needing regulatory approval to operate because it won’t serve as a betting entity like licensed Pennsylvania sports books. Still, partners in the project have previously detailed plans that include tablets at the venue or having customers use a mobile app on their phones to order food, control TV channels, or place bets with licensed sport betting app partners, according to past Business Journal reports.
Still, nearby residents and local politicians alike have expressed some concerns about the potential project regarding issues such as traffic, noise, rowdiness, and sports betting.
While customers won’t be using chips like at a casino, online sports betting is “a new wave” of gaming and Bankroll patrons will be using their devices to place bets, said City Council President Darrell Clarke (D-District 5), whose jurisdiction includes the 1900 block of Chestnut Street. He recalled there being some “brutal” community feedback when SugarHouse Casino (now re-branded as Rivers Casino Philadelphia) opened in 2010 at 1001. N. Delaware Ave., similarly in his district.
The city also has “a traffic problem” even without a 400-seat Bankroll, Clarke added, noting he’s concerned about who has the authority to monitor the impact of the project.
“The reality is that you should expect a significant pushback when this is proposed in this particular neighborhood,” Clarke said. “People should acknowledge that this is going to have impact on the residents, even the ones that support it. We’re kidding ourselves if we don't think that it will,” he added.
Still, the Center City Residents Association is “overwhelmingly in favor” of Bankroll being granted the zoning variance it needs, said President Richard Gross. That is largely due to a memorandum of agreement with Bankroll that includes a clause explicitly stating that Bankroll will not apply to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for a casino license that would allow on-site gaming.
The memorandum also notes that Bankroll will close no later than 2 a.m. nightly, never have more than 490 people in the building at once, and will hire a security team, which is not a typical feature of a Starr restaurant.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment will continue to hear the case for Bankroll's required special exception on Wednesday.
