Developers eyeing NYC showpiece locations for new casinos
July 22, 2022
Gaming operators and commercial real estate developers in New York are looking at iconic locations for new casinos set to be authorised by the state’s gaming commission. Among the potential locations are sites at Times Square and Hudson Yards, while tourist haven Coney Island and Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, have also been earmarked. These are just four of the many potential homes for new casinos as the state looks to build on the early success of liberalized gambling laws.
As of this moment, the casinos themselves, never mind the locations, remain very much a theoretical concern. It is known that the state gaming board has the power to grant three new casino licenses for downstate New York, and that Eric Adams, Mayor of NYC, has indicated that he would like at least two of the new casinos to be built in the city itself. This has led to a frenzy of jockeying for position in the development sector, as speculators aim to be at the front of the line when an announcement comes. As of this moment, though, no details nor timings have been issued for when or even if the licenses will be granted.
It is, however, broadly accepted that there will be new casinos built in the state, and that NYC itself will be the focus of most of the plans. So much so, in fact, that developers such as Related Companies and SL Green have already approached casino providers and state authorities such as Mayor Adams and State Governor Kathy Hochuli to make them aware of their readiness to build facilities as soon as permission is granted.
As a sign of how much betting has come into vogue in the city, Manhattan-based Related Companies are keen to build their facility in the borough’s voguish Hudson Yards, one of NYC’s newest neighbourhoods, The showpiece facility would, it is understood, be built over the train tracks in the area, and be in close proximity to the Javits Convention Centre, offering a nightlife option to business travellers.
SL Green, for their part, would be keen to build their facility right on Times Square, perhaps New York’s most famous thoroughfare and one of the most iconic in the world. A casino there would be a statement of intent, and the developer is understood to have reached out provisionally to Wynn, Hard Rock and Sands to gauge their interest in running a facility on the site. Hard Rock is understood to have already divulged to the state that it would like to be involved in whichever casinos are finally greenlit.
