Genting executive Ryan Eller has been named to head up development for Empire Resorts’ Montreign casino hotel slated to open next year in the Catskills, 90 miles north of New York City.
Before moving upstate, Eller, most recently Genting America’s senior vice president of development, oversaw a $315 million expansion of Genting New York’s Resorts World Casino New York City in Queens. The project included a new hotel and convention complex and 1,000 machine games.
Nasdaq-listed Empire is majority held by a Genting subsidiary.
At the $750 million Montreign Eller will oversee development of an 80,000-square-foot casino, 390 four- and five-star hotel rooms and an array of restaurants and other attractions, including live entertainment, a spa and salon and convention and meetings facilities.
He’s also taking charge of operations at Empire’s existing casino at nearby Monticello Raceway. Monticello’s 40,000-square-foot gaming floor features more than 1,000 machine games and electronic table games.
Eller also has been involved in overseeing design and development of Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas, which is under construction on the Strip.
Prior to joining Genting he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Choctaw Resort Development Enterprise, which manages the three casinos owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. From 2007 to 2012, he was treasurer and executive director of finance for PCI Gaming Authority, a company created by Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians to open and operate the tribe’s three casino and hotels. He also worked at Caesars Entertainment as a regional manager of planning and analysis.
