NEW YORK | Casino Development| FT| FLOORS

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Gantz

It wouldn't be good, because to have a good casino you need space for big floor plates. There is simply not enough space in TS for a good casino. Anything there would be too small and dingy with an awkward layout. That is why all those other sites are being proposed, they have enough land area to host a proper casino. It would also make money, but most likely generate less revenue due to lack of amenities, a waste of a casino license. TS already generates enough foot traffic without a casino.

The floors would be large enough. You don't need extremely large floor plates, you just need to have the space for the games. This location would generate the most money out of all the potential locations.

As far as the amenities, that this big concept for this casino. Because unlike other casino proposals that need to create the various amenities needed for a successful casino, this proposal doesn't need it. It's in the center of Times Square, with it's many hotels, restaurants, Broadway shows, etc. There will be a hotel, but not with the amount of rooms of other proposals, again causing spillover to neighboring hotels. That's good news, especially for Extell's Barnett who is building a massive hotel/thrill ride just down the block.

That's part of the spin for this particular proposal - it's not taking away from what already exist, but enhancing it. It will actually increase business in the area. It's one of the things the state is looking for in a bid.

[NYguy]

A little more clarity on the prospect of space geared to casino gaming in these proposals:

The Coney Island casino is proposing about 400,000 sf of gaming space (with about 450,000 sf of parking). The Sands in Nassau county is proposing about 400,000 sf of gaming space (with 4 msf of parking). The Hudson Yards casino would be about 250,000 sf of gaming, and the Times Square casino would also be about 250,000 sf of gaming. The Resorts World casino at Aqueduct would expand up to about 350,000 sf of gaming (up from between 200-250,000 sf).


For comparison of gaming spaces for scale, the largest in Nevada as ranked:

https://www.playusa.com/largest-las-...alley-casinos/

(While Las Vegas is known for its casinos, gaming hasn’t been the number one revenue generator for over two decades.
Last year, 73.4% of Vegas Strip casino revenue was from non-gaming parts of the properties. Gaming only contributed 26.6% of the revenue to these casinos.)

-Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno is the largest in Nevada : 225,615 square feet of gaming space

- Wynn has the largest Vegas Strip casino floor : Between the Encore and Wynn hotel towers the property has a total of 191,424 square feet of gaming space

-MGM Grand: 156,524 square feet

-Bellagio: 156,000 square feet

-Aria: 152,550 square feet

-Mandalay Bay: 152,000 square feet



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Some Atlantic City casinos in no particular order...

https://www.atlanticcityvacationrent...c-city-casinos

- Caesars Atlantic City: This iconic casino resort features over 100,000 square feet of gaming space

-Harrah's Resort Atlantic City: This casino resort features over 150,000 square feet of gaming space

-Hard Rock Hotel & Casino: opened in 2018 and features over 130,000 square feet of gaming space

-Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa: This casino resort features over 200,000 square feet of gaming space

-Ocean Casino Resort: Atlantic City's newest casino : over 100,000 square feet of gaming space

-Tropicana Atlantic City: This casino resort features over 100,000 square feet of gaming space

-Bally's Casino: features over 160,000 square feet of gaming space

-Golden Nugget Atlantic City: This casino resort features over 74,000 square feet of gaming space

-Resorts Casino Hotel: This casino resort features over 100,000 square feet of gaming space







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The largest casinos in the US are in neither of the 2 places long known for casinos in the country.

https://www.gambling.com/us/news/lar...the-us-2237800


1 WinStar World Casino & Resort Thackerville, Okla. 400,000

2 Mohegan Sun Uncasville, Conn. 364,000

3 Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket, Conn. 340,000

4 Thunder Valley Casino Resort Lincoln, Calif. 250,000

5 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, Fla. 245,000

6 Riverwind Casino Norman, Okla. 287,000

7 Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel Highland, Calif. 222,000

8 Choctaw Casino Resort Durant, Okla. 218,000

9 Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort Mt. Pleasant, Mich. 210,000

10 Encore Boston Harbor Everett, Mass. 210,000



WinStar World Casino & Resort, Thackerville, Okla.
It's the world's biggest casino with an unrivaled gaming space.



Chickasaw Nation, which owns WinStar, is part of the Coney Island bid.


https://www.localcontent.com/saratog...ainment-venue/

Saratoga Casino Holdings, The Chickasaw Nation & Legends Join Thor Equities’ Bid for Coney Island Casino, Hotel & Entertainment Venue

By Tenicka Chaney
May 1, 2024

Saratoga Casino Holdings has a proven track record and runs the most successful racino in Upstate New York. A New York, family owned-and-run casino and hotel operator, Saratoga Casino Holdings has expanded its operations to Colorado and Mississippi following its opening the first non-tribal racino in 2004.

Saratoga Casino Holdings operates 175,000 square feet of casino gaming space with more than 2,100 slot machines, table games, a poker room and two sportsbooks – plus several entertainment venues, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars.

Despite its enviable successes, Saratoga Casino Holdings has made it a point to give back at home, investing in New York’s future with more than $1.2 billion in contributions to the New York State Education Fund – approximately 48 percent of its gaming revenue.

Global Gaming Solutions is a business entity of The Chickasaw Nation. Collectively, GGS, and The Chickasaw Nation operate more than 25,000 Electronic Games, 2,000+ hotel rooms, 30+ restaurants and dozens of retail outlets. The business portfolio includes the largest casino in the world, WinStar World Casino and Resort which hosts 9 million guests annually. The Chickasaw Nation also employs nearly 13,500 people.

“We currently enjoy an excellent strategic partnership with Legends at our flagship property WinStar World Casino and Resort. Our investment and involvement in this project reflects a desire to expand that relationship and extend it to additional strategic partners in Thor and Saratoga,” Global Gaming Board Chairman Bill Lance said.

“We look forward to a successful collaboration based on our combined strengths and perhaps most importantly – our shared commitment to develop a top-tier entertainment venue that promises to respect the history of the neighborhood and breathe new life into this iconic New York City landmark. We look forward to taking our partnership with Legends – a known and trusted entity in New York – to even greater heights.”

Legends, the venture’s entertainment partner, brings three decades of experience delivering in the New York, national, and global markets – ranging from stadiums to concert venues to conventions. Originally founded as a joint venture with the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys, Legends understands the importance of Coney Island’s success to our city and state. The organization brings with it not only its unsurpassed record but a commitment to union employment opportunities in Coney Island and for the greater Coney Island Community.

“Legends is proud to work with Thor Equities and our gaming partners Saratoga Casino and The Chickasaw Nation to provide our operational and experiential expertise to bring the preeminent resort casino in New York to Coney Island,” said Bill Rhoda, President, Legends Global Planning. “This incredible resort will be a world class entertainment destination, with gaming, a variety of restaurants and entertainment for locals and tourists year-round.”

[NYguy]

1515 Broadway


JULY 4, 2024

[NYguy]

• Video Link




https://www.longislandpress.com/2024...mission-sands/

Las Vegas Sands Lease of Nassau Coliseum OK’d Despite Protests





By Michael Malaszczyk
July 18, 2024

Despite protests – and counter-protests – the Nassau County Planning Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to hand the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale over to the Las Vegas Sands casino company.

The lease was proposed on June 20, and gives Sands control of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and its surrounding land for 42 years. Sands wants to build a casino on the property, a move supported by both Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and his allies in the Republican-majority county legislature, which voted 17-1 to approve a casino last year.

“The casino has no implication on what we’re doing today,” said Grant Newburger, director of communications of the AFL-CIO-affiliated Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk counties, which celebrated the news. “Sands is the employer who is going to keep paying for our people that are unionized, local Long Islanders. This is the entity that is trying to take over the Coliseum right now. We all live on Long Island. And we just want to feed our families and I want to make sure they can go to work tomorrow.”

Anti-casino advocates rallied outside of the building as well, stressing the need to consider the long term implications of building a casino in Nassau.

“The change in the culture [with a casino] is going to be profound,” George Krug, Garden City resident and member of the Say No To The Casino Civic Association, told the Press. “What this does to parents looking at Hofstra as a prospective school for their kids, when they’re driving up, to check out the school that they might want to send their son or daughter to and they see there’s a Las Vegas style casino right next door literally across the street, and they learned that it’s the second largest casino in the country bigger than any casino in Las Vegas, they’re going to be looking at other options, right? I firmly believe that years from now, if this casino gets built, people are going to think of Nassau County in terms of before the casino and after the casino.”

[DCReid]

Long article but here are snippets including about the Related Hudson Yards proposal:

https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news...oposals-125222

...Titans of the real estate industry hoping to build a grand casino in New York City are battling for the prize expected to be worth billions, but their most important fight might not be against each other. Instead, the winning bidders must win over the hearts and minds of their neighbors' local politicians — a task that looks increasingly daunting for some of the highest-profile bidders...Each casino proposal must go before a six-member Community Advisory Committee, with Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, the local Senate and Assembly members, the local city council members and the borough president each appointing one individual to represent the local area. Two-thirds of the CAC have to agree that the casino proposal would be in the best interest of the community...

Related Hudson Yards proposal:
"Another proposal that finds itself needing to overcome staunch political opposition is Related’s bid for the uncompleted second phase of the $25B Hudson Yards megaproject, on which the developer is partnering with Wynn Resorts...The proposal has been talked about as a favorite to win, Crain’s New York Businesss reported. But elected officials, including Assemblyman Tony Simone, whose district includes the site, have voiced significant skepticism. Influential nonprofit Friends of the High Line, which operates the park under license from the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, has also come out in opposition to Related's bid...Manhattan Community Board 4 declined to comment to Bisnow but rejected the proposal more than two years ago. Now, Friends of the High Line’s view may add to pressure on local elected officials...This week, a state lawmaker representing the area covering Related’s Hudson Yards proposal has come out in opposition to the developer’s plan...

[NYguy]

Yes, there is strong opposition to these casinos, as expected. And we have yet to even begin the process.

We won't see the actual full casino details until the bids come out (bids aren't due until the end of June, next year). But we've already gotten some of the general views and components (streets, parking, etc.) of the proposals.

The approvals moving forward through City Planning currently are for the site plans which will make it possible to bid on the casinos. This is what we have to look forward to:






And this is who will ultimately decide if the casinos can even make it to the final round (4 of 6 must approve):









https://www.amny.com/opinion/make-new-york-city-work/

Op-Ed | How to make New York City work for working-class New Yorkers


By Rev. Dr. Johnnie Melvin Green
July 26, 2024

As the pastor and founder of Mobilizing Preachers and Communities (MPAC), a civil rights and faith-based organization in Harlem dedicated to justice and equality, I am deeply familiar with our city’s cost of living crisis. Every day, I hear from my congregation and community about the escalating prices of rent, food, and utilities, all while unemployment remains stubbornly flat.

....As the cost of basic needs continues to rise faster than earnings, middle-class New Yorkers are struggling to keep up. Our city is in desperate need of opportunities that bring new jobs and economic benefits to those who need them most.

Fortunately, such an opportunity is on the horizon. With three downstate casino licenses now up for grabs, New York has a chance to extend an economic ladder to the middle class. The debate over whether New York City should have a casino is long past… three are coming and we must make sure we maximize this opportunity to create jobs, economic development and the community benefits all the operators are promising.

It seems obvious to me that one of those casinos should be located in tourist-rich Manhattan, where it would be accessible to New Yorkers across the city and state. While no operators have made their full bids public yet, early details about a casino at the Western Rail Yards on Manhattan’s far west side are particularly compelling. The $12 billion investment would create 35,000 construction jobs and 5,000 new permanent union jobs–jobs that many folks in my community could benefit from.

The economic impact of a new casino in Manhattan would be far-reaching. Creating a new destination would benefit local business owners, leading to potential business expansion and the creation of even more jobs. This development would not only provide immediate economic relief but additional assets like affordable housing, a new school and a nearly six-acre park, which would be long lasting.

Investing in developments like the one planned for the Western Rail Yards have yielded incredibly high returns for some communities across the country. The most comparable example to a Manhattan casino, the Encore Boston Harbor Hotel and Casino, has generated over $1.3 billion in direct and indirect economic impact for the region while supporting more than 9,900 jobs, according to a report from the Economic & Public Policy Research (EPPR) at UMass Amherst. This is just one example that illustrates how Wynn can make an impact in New York City, as casinos have in other cities as well.

Despite the potential for a big return, there is significant opposition from wealthy public interest groups. Recent opposition to the rail yards project uses coded language like “protecting the character of the neighborhood.” Our response must be clear: we cannot allow the wealthy to block jobs and housing for working-class New Yorkers. As our city becomes increasingly unaffordable, we must prioritize the needs of all residents, especially those in communities like mine.

A Manhattan casino offers a unique chance for economic advancement that our community desperately needs and the rail yards proposal is particularly strong. With proper regulation and community engagement, this project can bring transformative benefits to our city.

The success of this project could serve as a model for future developments across the city. By demonstrating how a large-scale project can bring tangible benefits to local communities, we can encourage more initiatives that prioritize the needs of working-class New Yorkers. This approach can help bridge the growing divide between the wealthy and the working class, creating a more prosperous city for all New Yorkers.

We cannot let the privileged stop communities of color and the working class. For the future of our city, we must embrace new developments that will strengthen and build up our middle class and our economy. There isn’t a moment to waste. We must act now to secure a better future for our city and all its residents.

[NYguy]

https://www.politico.com/newsletters...field-00172336

Get in, loser. Cohen’s casino team is hiring.


By JASON BEEFERMAN and SALLY GOLDENBERG
08/01/2024

After a rough stretch, billionaire Steve Cohen is holding a hot hand.

One of the most powerful but little-known people in the state Legislature is joining the ranks of the sprawling and highly-compensated team behind the Mets owner’s casino bid, Playbook is first to report.

And the move gives Cohen another in with state Senate leadership after losing the support of Jessica Ramos, whose backing is critical for his quest to build a high-end gaming facility with a hotel, concert venue and a park next to Citi Field.

Eric Katz, who served as lead counsel to the state Senate majority for the past three years — one of the highest non-elected positions in the Legislature — is joining Cohen’s Metropolitan Park as its general counsel, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.

Shontell Smith, who was both counsel and chief of staff to the Senate majority as recently as 2022, now works on behalf of Cohen’s bid through her role as a partner at lobbying and consulting firm Tusk Strategies.

Katz will face a two year ban from lobbying the Legislature directly, while Smith’s ban is up. She can now work to persuade her former colleagues — namely Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins — to approve Cohen’s project even without Ramos’ coveted backing.

Cohen will need all the legislative firepower he can muster as he attempts to convince Senate leadership to pass a bill to free up the city parkland next to the baseball stadium to make way for the casino. (The site is currently a parking lot.)

Traditionally, legislative moves to free up city parkland would need buy-in from the local lawmaker — in this case Ramos. But she has been adamant in her opposition following a series of spats with Cohen’s team, even as the Mets owner spent millions of dollars to sway her and her community otherwise. (The bid has support from the local Assemblymember, borough president and City Council member.)

In May, Stewart-Cousins also seemed unlikely to advance a parkland bill without approval from Ramos. A state Senate source says her opinion has not changed.

Stewart-Cousin’s staff declined to comment.

[NYguy]

https://www.casinoreports.com/new-yo...icensing-wars/

New York City Casino Licensing Wars — How Long Will The Battle Last?
One local official has termed the saga to this point ‘an embarrassing picture of ineptness’


By John Brennan
July 31, 2024

The licensing approval and then the eventual opening of four commercial casinos in 2016 and 2017 in upstate New York was a relative breeze compared to the current second phase of planned casino expansion in the state.

That would be the awarding of three casino licenses in the New York City area — sites that would bring in dramatically larger amounts of tax revenue to the state than their upstate counterparts.

First, look to the 2022 New York State budget, which established a different siting process for the city licenses. Rather than the New York State Gaming Commission having final say as was the case previously, a Gaming Facility Location Board was created to determine the casino sites. (The commission’s only role would be potentially disqualifying applicants for reasons of “fitness and character” of the project’s leadership.)

The GFLB’s five members each were appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. But before any bid even reaches the desk of the GFLB members, a Community Advisory Committee for each application first must approve the project after ensuring that all zoning requirements are met.

Also, two-thirds of the members of each CAC must approve the application, and failure to pass that hurdle would end a project’s chances — seemingly with no avenue for appeal.

The latter wrinkle is why the timeline is so difficult to project. While those in upstate regions mostly embraced the idea of casinos as major job providers as well as a lure for desired tourist dollars, most of New York City and nearby surrounding counties already are heavily congested. The idea of even more people arriving to clog city or county streets and further crowd public transportation options has left many local elected officials reluctant to endorse a casino proposal in their neighborhoods.

According to earlier legislation, bid applications initially were to be due by Aug. 31, 2024. A consultant would also be hired by each CAC by the same deadline, and those committees must be established by Oct. 30. The CACs then would vote on any application in their neighborhoods by Feb. 27, 2025.

But later in June, the Gaming Facilities Location Board announced a new scheduling goal. The first half of 2025 would involve a series of Q&A requests of the board and the commission, with applications due on June 27 of next year.

The members of each CAC would be announced shortly afterward — and this may be the life-or-death phase for each project. That’s because at least some of the members chosen either already will have announced their sentiments on the project, or at least will be perceived as a likely supporter or opponent even before voting begins.

The rest of the summer would be spent on at least two public hearings — “raucous” would be a betting-line favorite in some cases, if such odds existed — before CAC voting deadlines of Sept. 30, 2025.

The location board’s updated timeline has approvals being granted by Dec. 1, 2025, and licensure approvals occurring within 30 days after that — maybe.

That’s because the board, contrary to the wishes of some eager lawmakers and even the state gaming commission, continues to set longer-range timelines.

“The Board could allow itself an additional thirty days deliberation to January 31, 2026 upon good cause,” members wrote. “Also under the proposal, the date for action by the Commission would be a moving target, being thirty days following the vote by the Gaming Facility Location Board, or an additional thirty days, upon good cause. This means that the earliest vote could be on January 31, 2026 or as late as March 31, 2026, depending upon the Gaming Facility Location Board and the several possibilities for good-cause extensions.”

This has caused state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, Jr. to lash out at what he sees as an “embarrassing” and unnecessarily drawn-out process.

“I mean, it’s going to wind up taking us longer to get approvals than it took to build the Empire State Building, and that was about 80 years ago,” Addabbo said. “Interested parties have had two years already to get a sense of whether they could get the relevant approvals from the relevant people. So why all the delays? There is no valid reason. And I am hearing that there are applicants who are getting very frustrated.”