PITTSBURGH -- A group led by Chicago real-estate magnate Neil Bluhm has signed an agreement and is poised to assume control over Pittsburgh's financially troubled $780 million casino if the state approves the deal.

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Bluhm and his business partners at Walton Street Capital and a newly formed group called High Pitt Gaming have signed a deal to hold 75 percent of the project on Pittsburgh's North Shore, under a new name of Pittsburgh Gaming Holdings, according to spokesman Dan Fee.

"We have to go back to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and seek final approval of this agreement, and then finalize the bank financing, and then we're ready to move forward, very quickly," Fee said Wednesday.

The casino's current licensed owner is PITG Gaming, led by Detroit businessman Don Barden, who acknowledged last week that he couldn't line up enough permanent financing to finish the project.

Construction work on the casino has stopped because Barden can't pay the general contractor, Keating Construction.

Bluhm and his family already control a majority stake in the proposed SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia, so the state must give its approval before he can become involved in the Pittsburgh casino.

"We hope to have it happen as soon as next week," Fee said. "We think it's in everybody's interest for this process to get wrapped up expeditiously, so that we can not only begin putting people back to work, but begin generating tax revenue for the city and the state."

Under the deal, Barden would be a 25 percent partner and be replaced as CEO by Greg Carlin.

Also, Pittsburgh Gaming said it will stand by Barden's promises to build related riverfront amenities and to help fund the city's new arena and new development in the Hill District.

"Both Mr. Bluhm and Mr. Carlin -- in every property they have developed -- have always done everything thing they can to be real partners with the community in which they are located, and Pittsburgh will be no different," Fee said.

Originally, the casino was scheduled to open in spring 2009.

"We believe we'll be very close to the original deadline if there are no further delays or no unexpected delays," Fee said.

On Monday, state Sens. Jane Orie and Jim Ferlo filed a request with the gaming board to revoke Barden's license, start the project again from scratch and open the license to new competitors.

"Anything where you open up the entire process to a new round of bidding would lead to maybe as many as a couple of years of delay, and we don't think that's really in anybody's interest," Fee said.

Carlin spoke by phone with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on Wednesday afternoon and will do the same with Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato later in the day, Fee said.

"We need to determine, first and foremost, if this is a viable group," Ravenstahl said. "If it is, I think that's in everybody's best interest, and we would be supportive of that because it would allow the process to continue to move."

Ravenstahl said that if the financing is solid, resuming construction is a better option than putting the casino license back up for bid again.

"I think that's option No. 1 because it ensures what's been promised will be delivered and it's done in the most expeditious manner," he said.

The governor agreed, saying: "I am hopeful these actions will lead to the approval of the new ownership group."

Ravenstahl said the same promises were heard previously and he wants to talk to the Gaming Board before the members make a decision on what to do with the casino.

"If in the short term, a board meeting were to be held, I would certainly do everything in my power to make myself available in person to make sure my voice is heard so that the promises that were made to Pittsburgh are kept," the mayor said.

Action News has learned that even if the new ownership is approved in the coming weeks, the casino will not be done by next May as planned, but likely, sometime next summer.

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