Wynn Resorts Limited to build a casino in Manhattan
While Hard Rock International is looking to build a casino in Manhattan, a competing facility will soon be built in New York’s fifth borough. Indeed, the operator Wynn Resorts Limited has recently signed a land development agreement with the real estate developer The Related Companies LP. A Las Vegas-style casino-resort will be built in the Hudson Yards area of downtown Manhattan.
Soon a casino in Hudson Yards, Manhattan
It is in a 28-hectare site located on the Hudson River – already subject to a territorial development program – that the Wynn Resorts Limited Casino will be located. The eastern half of the site is already planned to house three office and retail towers, as well as a theater and a climbable public sculpture.
It should be noted that a first urban redevelopment project was decided in 2008. The objective was to create a new dynamic economic and cultural area, just a few meters from one of the most important public transportation stations in New York, Pennsylvania Station. Unfortunately, several financial difficulties delayed the start of the first phase of construction by four years.
The prospect of being able to to implant a casino-resort in the western part of the site, which has been neglected for many years, would provide a real boost to the overall redevelopment project, which is estimated to cost some US$25 billion. In addition, the construction of a resort with an integrated casino would likely lead to other urban development projects, such as the development of residential and commercial properties, as well as the creation of a new outdoor park.
US casino giant Wynn Resorts Limited in pole position
Wynn Resorts Limited, which already manages and operates the Encore Boston Harbor property in Massachusetts as well as the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas properties in southern Nevada, also has a presence in Macau through its subsidiary Wynn Macau Limited. The group is definitely the first of its kind to have signed a land development contract for the establishment of a casino in New York.
The Big Apple, speaking of which, passed a law in 2013 allowing four casinos to be built in the northern part of the state. A 10-year moratorium on the opening of three more casinos in the southern part of the state is currently in place.
The latest news is that the New York Gaming Commission is expected to grant Genting Malaysia Berhad’s Resorts World New York City – which currently offers only slot machines – and MGM Resorts International’s Empire City Casino on the Yonkers racetrack permission to transform into full-fledged gambling palaces. The aforementioned establishments could therefore be equipped with classic gaming tables and electronic blackjack and roulette terminals in the near future.
