NEW YORK | Hudson Yards Phase 2 | 1,376 - 1,189 - 1,180 FT | 80/80/74 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by BK1985

Full disagree. There will already be a large park in Hudson yards proper. It should be decked over and developed with apartments per the state’s plan. We are in a massive housing crisis this is what we need instead of spending a billion dollars for a deck only to top it off with a park that will more than likely be underutilized.

More than likely, Hochul will mandate some affordable housing there when the state issues an RFP for the site. They have to first resolve the issue with the other site (site K) where the Affirmation Tower was proposed. That was re-issued to mandate affordable housing, and this site, which is much larger, would do the same.

When you look at Related's older site plan for the railyards, you can see a potential 3 tower development on the site, though not controlled by Related.

[TowerDude]

Originally Posted by BK1985

Full disagree. There will already be a large park in Hudson yards proper. It should be decked over and developed with apartments per the state’s plan. We are in a massive housing crisis this is what we need instead of spending a billion dollars for a deck only to top it off with a park that will more than likely be underutilized.

If we're going to count the "Park" in Hudson Yards (which I would not) then the City should own that park not Related Companies.

[BK1985]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

If we're going to count the "Park" in Hudson Yards (which I would not) then the City should own that park not Related Companies.

Why don’t you consider that a park? The city is dotted with with POPs throughout midtown this is just a much larger iteration. The point that I’m making is that since the marshaling yard has to be decked over building a park on that spot isn’t going to return on the investment and also doesn’t make much sense when we need housing. I’m also making the assumption that whatever is built there will have plazas surrounding the high line which I’ve factored into my thought process.

[bdurk]

I hope they build these. Can't wait to see the view coming into NYC on NJtransit in a couple years. Hudson Yards already dominates the view from that angle, these towers will just make it better. BUILD IT!

[NYguy]

https://www.casino.org/news/wynn-new...-of-6-billion/

Wynn’s Bold Bet: New York Casino Investment Set to Surpass $6B





March 19, 2024
Todd Shriber

Related Companies recently unveiled plans for a $12 billion expansion of Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side. Of that sum, Wynn Resorts’ proposed casino hotel would carry a price tag of $5.7 billion.

That’s assuming the operator is successful in procuring one of the three downstate casino licenses New York regulators have yet to award. The $12 billion price tag is well in excess of the $10 billion previously believed to be the potential tab for the project at Hudson Yards. Privately held Related has said it probably won’t move forward with the project without a gaming license.

"Although the total development cost for the Western Hudson Rail Yards complex may be as high as $12 billion, as recently reported, the development cost for the Wynn New York City gaming resort is approximately $5.7 billion, excluding licensing fees and financing costs,” according to a statement issued to Casino.org by Michael Weaver, chief communications and brand officer at Wynn.

While the casino would be the centerpiece of the Hudson Yards expansion, the property would include 1,500 apartments, a public school, a daycare center, and two million square feet of office space.

As Weaver noted, the estimated $5.7 billion cost of a Wynn casino in New York City doesn’t include financing and licensing.

Regarding the latter issue, it was originally believed that New York would require winning bidders to fork over upfront payments of $500 million apiece for licenses. But with the state needing cash, there’s speculation swirling that the permit fees could jump to $1 billion per winning operator.

In theory, before financing costs, Wynn could face expenditures of $6.7 billion in New York if it wins a casino permit. That’s a hefty percentage of the operator’s market capitalization of $10.98 billion as of the close of U.S. markets on Tuesday.

Within the gaming industry, there’s some belief that owing to New York City being perhaps the best untapped domestic casino opportunity, the state has the leverage to increase licensing fees.

The statement issued by Weaver didn’t mention plans by Wynn to issue debt to build in New York, should it garner one of the three casino permits. Should the operator need to go down that road, it could be expensive.

At the end of last year, Wynn had $2.88 billion in cash on hand, as well as access to $736.5 million on a revolving credit facility held by Wynn Resorts Finance.

[Busy Bee]

The "park" should be an ambitious northern expansion of Hudson River Park with a bridge across 9A connecting to the High Line not a squandering of the marshalling yard overdeck ($$$) when Bella Abzug is a block away. Win-win.

Massive Duh.

[TowerDude]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

The "park" should be an ambitious northern expansion of Hudson River Park with a bridge across 9A connecting to the High Line not a squandering of the marshalling yard overdeck ($$$) when Bella Abzug is a block away. Win-win.

Massive Duh.

Money should not always be the prime consideration.

And Abzug Park is too dissected by roads to be a real park anyway.

[skeena222]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Money should not always be the prime consideration.

And Abzug Park is too dissected by roads to be a real park anyway.

It's nothing that can be done on anyone's end right now, it's the age difference. Money isn't everything, but it isn't nothing either. A solid bed of finances isn't a bad thing, it's what you put it to use in that makes the difference. That being said, what Abzug Park needs is to be elevated in its own right above street level and that stupid holdout situation with the Manhattan Aquariums rowhouse. An argument could be made to deck over the other exposed portions of railroad even up into Hell’s Kitchen and let development naturally burn its way through.

[NYguy]

Was looking forward to Related's full reveal. But who knows when that will happen with the slow moving state approvals process. Too many moving parts at one time.

Somehow, they didn't understand all of this when creating the various levels of hoops the bidders would have to jump through to get a license.



https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politi...025-state-says

New York City casino bids won't be due until 2025, state reveals






NICK GARBER
March 25, 2024

Bids to open casinos in New York City will not open up until 2025, state officials announced Monday, finally putting a firm timeline on what has been a sluggish run-up to the eagerly awaited process.

[NYguy]

There are people who think even one casino would be too much for New York to handle. Those people are morons.



https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/p...&adppopup=true

[NYguy]

People are too stupid for words.


https://www.amny.com/news/high-line-...-casino-plans/

How one section of the High Line could throw serious wrinkle into Hudson Yards casino plans


By Barbara Russo
April 3, 2024

Friends of the High Line , a nonprofit that oversees many aspects of the popular park along with the NYC Parks Department, is asking the Department of City Planning to review proposed rezoning changes put forth by Related Companies, a mega developer that wants to build a full-service “Vegas-style” casino nearby.

….. At the core of the group’s concerns is a change in how the neighborhood will look. As per a negotiated plan from 2009, this part of the High Line, known as the Western Rail Yard, was to remain mostly residential to maximize light, air and views from open spaces.

Rezoning, however, would allow for new skyscrapers and towers to rise — taking away accessible open space, or as Friends of the High Line put it, the neighborhood’s “character.”

In fact, the Western Rail Yard section of the High Line is often fondly to as the “Rail Yard Preserve,” explained Alan van Capelle, executive director of the Friends of the High Line.

“This is not an insignificant piece of this public park. It’s 20% of it,” van Capelle said. “It’s a very important piece of telling the High Line story to see a self-seed landscape that from the east looks into Manhattan and from the west as breathtaking views of the river.”

…..van Capelle said he is “less concerned about the actual casino,” which represents only about 200,000 square feet of the entire development. His concern is more about how the rezoning could destroy the charm of the area. Hudson Yards on the east was originally designed to be more dense, Alan explained, whereas the western side was to remain spacious and open, per a 2009 agreement with the city.

“Now, they are proposing the same square footage but packed into three mega towers with ginormous podiums that swallow that entire area and close it off from the rest of Manhattan,” he said.

[BK1985]

This doesnt even make any sense, the proposed open area is the same size as the previous proposal.

[NYguy]

These people are just stupid.


https://w42st.com/post/community-boa...e-casino-plan/

Community Board Challenges Hudson Yards Shift: From Residential Dream to Office-Casino Plan


by Dashiell Allen
March 4, 2024

Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) says it is “mystified” at a bid by Related Companies, the developer behind Hudson Yards, to modify its plan for the Western Rail Yards to include building offices and a possible casino instead of creating a primarily residential district.

The new proposal is a far cry from the plan agreed upon in 2009 by MCB4, Related and the City of New York, for six buildings containing 5,762 housing units on the Western Rail Yards (W30th to W33rd St bw 11/12th Ave). The new proposal would include 1,507 units, 324 of which would be subsidized-affordable, and the Community Board is none too pleased by the change.

A letter from MCB4 asks Related Companies and the City: “Why should communities around the City of New York work with the real estate industry and the City government to respond and agree to zoning changes with detailed site plans and Points of Agreement when such plans and agreements can be discarded at later date?”

The board “cannot support the proposed project’s drastic shift from residential to commercial use designed around casino use,” the letter states emphatically.

While Rosen stated Related would remain committed to its agreements — including building a school — MCB4 member Josephine Ishmon pointed out at last night’s MCB4 Full Board meeting, the smaller number of residential units “greatly will impact whether we get a school or not,” since there would potentially be less children living in the area. “What I don’t want is that the School Construction Authority says ‘oh no you’re not getting a school, we can’t fill the seats’ … and then what happens to the space?” she asked.

Community Board 4 is also concerned that Related’s proposal does not take into account the increased traffic to the west side that a casino and hotel would bring from patrons entering and leaving. The board’s letter considers that the open space in the proposal would be lodged between the towers, and is not “fully integrated” into “a full site plan.” Other concerns include the possible effects on small businesses in the neighborhood, and that the buildings could block views from the Hudson River to the Empire State Building.

Executives from The High Line have also written to say that they would like to see “the preservation of key sight lines” from their park and “a space free from buildings that unnecessarily encroach and overwhelm it.”

[NYguy]

Executives from The High Line have also written to say that they would like to see “the preservation of key sight lines” from their park and “a space free from buildings that unnecessarily encroach and overwhelm it.”

taigatrommelchen

[NYguy]

https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...s/73360837007/

Casinos at Hudson Yards, Citi Field? Atlantic City casinos see a major threat


Daniel Munoz
April 18, 2024

A New Jersey casino executive and the state’s top gaming lobbyist said during a major casino conference Wednesday that a New York City casino could be a “threat” to the gambling industry in New Jersey.

Those remarks by Mark Giannantonio — president of Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and president of the trade group the Casino Association of New Jersey — echoed similar remarks made by a top gaming executive last year.

” They’re going to be Las Vegas-style massive properties and they will generate new business — of course people coming up from South America, Europe, Asia,” Giannantonio told reporters after a panel hosted by the East Coast Gaming Congress at Hard Rock in Atlantic City Wednesday.

“It’s also going to impact eastern Pennsylvania, Atlantic City, Connecticut," he said.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is lobbying state officials for his plans to build an $8 billion casino with Hard Rock near Citi Field in Queens. Sands has plans for a sprawling casino resort on Long Island, having already completed a long-term lease purchase of property at the site of the Nassau Coliseum.

Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts and developer Related Cos. are partnering with plans for a $12 billion casino at the Hudson Yards area in Manhattan along the Hudson River.

Another casino has been proposed for Times Square, and another on the East Side close to the United Nations world headquarters.

“If it ends up in Manhattan, either Hudson Yards, Times Square or the East Side, it’s going to be fairly devastating, I think, for Atlantic City,” said David Naczycz, executive director of the Fintech and Sports Wagering Innovation Center, based out of Jersey City.

A casino elsewhere in the New York metro area, such as Queens, would be less impactful for Atlantic City, he said.

“The trip from Montclair to far east Queens is just as bad as the trip down to Atlantic City, and there’s more tolls,” Naczycz said.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...y-for-casinos/

City Council approves zoning change to greenlight casinos
Limited-time text amendment removes one hurdle in the process


By Kathryn Brenzel
April 18, 2024

One hoop down, several left to jump through

The City Council on Thursday signed off on a zoning text amendment that will remove one hurdle for companies vying for three downstate casino licenses.

The change simply allows a gaming facility to open in manufacturing and commercial districts, something that is not currently permitted under the city’s zoning rules. The amendment is tailored to the current competition, only applying to applications filed for a casino before June 25, 2025.

The City Planning Commission and members of the City Council framed the text amendment as a way to “level the playing field” for casino contenders. It ensures that the Council can’t, on its own, kill a proposal, though it will have sway on other zoning changes needed for some bids and local members will still have a say as part of the state’s approval process.

The change saves casino proposals from going through a separate land use review process to merely exist, even if they include a hotel, which now requires a special permit. The change would also help avoid duplicative and lengthy environmental reviews at the city level before beginning the state process.

Ahead of the vote, Council member Kalman Yeger, one of 15 members who voted against the action, characterized the text amendment as a “blank check to applications that we have not reviewed.” He questioned why the council would willingly give up authority over a land use issue.

Some casino proposals already require separate city and state approvals outside the casino application process. Related Companies needs the city to approve zoning changes for its site at Hudson Yards. Steve Cohen’s Willets Point plan and Bally’s proposal in the Bronx are on parkland and require state legislative approval to remove that designation.

[NYguy]

More news from the moron contingent, aka CB4…


https://nypost.com/2024/04/21/us-new...tting-slashed/

”Now, the applicant, Related Companies, solely in pursuit of casino dollars as a means to fund the platform over the WRY [Western Rail Yards], proposes to amend that plan out of existence in favor of 2 oversize commercial towers, one of a hotel with 1,750 keys, sitting on the equivalent of a 20-story base containing a casino,” said the CB4 letter, signed by chairwoman Jessica Chait and co-land use chairs Jean Daniel-Noland and Paul Devlin.

“ Streets connecting the community will be eliminated… The result will be an inward looking, protected enclave for an inward focused casino, disconnected from the surrounding community.”

In the very least, the developers should consider shrinking the casino project to one hotel with the balance of the project dedicated to apartment buildings instead of office towers, CB4 board members said.

A Related Companies spokesman said, “We are looking forward to continuing to work with the Community Board as this process moves forward – and we are specifically excited to unveil our full community benefits package which is centered around investment in this neighborhood.

“We are proud that our project on the Western Yards will deliver on all of the pledges made in the original zoning including affordable housing, 5.6 acres of green open space, and a public school.”

The housing eliminated to make way for the casino project was planned to be market rate or luxury units — though CB4 officials said Related Companies has tapped real estate tax exemptions in the past to generate “20% to 25%” affordable housing in its developments.

[ChiND]

These idiots make me nauseous.

Are their conclusions merely advisory, or can they actually block projects?

[NYguy]

https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/...ter-record-q1/


Wynn talks up New York and Thailand plans after record Q1


8th May 2024
By Robert Fletcher

…..Billings also hinted at further expansion for Wynn, referencing potential launches in both New York and Thailand. New York looks to be the first possible new market for Wynn, with the operator considering an integrated resort in Hudson Yards. However, like other parties interested in New York, Wynn will have to wait until 2025 until a decision is reached on new casino licences in the state.

“We believe a full-scale Wynn integrated resort will drive meaningful incremental tax revenue, tourism and employment in the state,” Billings said. “Despite the elongation of the RFA submission process in New York, we remain intrigued by the prospect of a Wynn resort in Manhattan.”

[NYguy]

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/arti...t-runners.html

Eleven rivals. Countless billions. One prize: the right to build a casino in the heart of New York.


By Noah Shachtman

Jay-Z is pushing to get it. Nas wants a piece. The owner of the Mets is spending a fortune to win. A subsidiary of the Yankees is trying, too. Manhattan’s biggest commercial landlord is all-in. The Hudson Yards crew wants it, and so does the man behind Coney Island. A former police commissioner is wrapped up in this. And a former governor. And Eric Adams’s closest confidant. And the guy who owns Donald Trump’s old golf course. And the head of a private intelligence firm.

What they’re all after is a downstate New York casino license — “a license to print money, literally,” as one insider close to several of the bidders puts it.

New Yorkers may be used to grandiosity, to shrugging at a new skyscraper like it’s another foothill in a mountain chain. The casino deal is different. The opportunity is so gargantuan that the bidders are promising, almost as add-ons, to spend billions to solve some of the city’s most challenging engineering feats and to build concert halls, apartment towers, science centers, public schools, parks, even a museum of democracy. These are projects that would ordinarily merit headlines all on their own. In this contest, they’re mere loss leaders. A license to operate a casino in or directly outside New York City is worth almost any investment. “Even one of these bids would be one of the biggest land-use battles in the history of New York, and we’ve got five right here in Manhattan,” says Mark Levine, the borough president.

.....some of the best-positioned competitors for the final casino license are in Manhattan. Consider the bid out of Hudson Yards. The site is already somewhat Vegas-y, in the sense it’s a synthetic, air-conditioned megadevelopment built in the middle of nowhere. Like the Bellagio, it already has a Cartier, a Fendi, and a Dior.

Related Companies, which built Hudson Yards, is offering to partner with Wynn Resorts to spend a reported $12 billion to essentially double the size of the complex, starting with the construction of a $2 billion deck to cover the open rail yards between 11th and 12th Avenues.

On top, Related wants to erect an 80-story skyscraper to hold a casino and 1,750 hotel rooms, a second tower with 1,500 apartments, and a third structure with 2 million square feet of office space and a school for 750 students. Plus a green area the size of Bryant Park. If the state gaming board prioritizes bids by capital investment, this is one with plenty.

One elected official calls it “an objectively strong bid with objectively serious political opposition.” The local community board recently released a public letter attacking the proposal, noting that the number of planned apartments is less than a third of the 5,700 units Related initially promised to construct at Hudson Yards in 2009.

But political opposition may not be absolute. Related claims that the project will create 35,000 temporary construction jobs and another 5,000 permanent ones — all union. The firm wields so much influence that an operative working for a rival calls it a “shadow government.” They mean it as a compliment.

New York’s other obviously Vegas-like destination is, of course, Times Square. And the bid based there, from the developer SL Green, may provide the clearest indication of the scale of change that a casino could bring to New York. Both advocates and opponents of the project believe it has the potential to remake the city’s tourist mecca on an order not seen since City Hall went after its porno theaters in the 1980s and ’90s and reinvented it as a zone safe enough for an M&M flagship store.