As the competition heats up for what many believe will be a sole New York City casino award, some developers are sweetening their proposals.
Soloviev Group, which has partnered with Mohegan Gaming to propose a casino on a 6.7-acre lot it owns near the U.N. in Midtown Manhattan, has added to its plan, which already includes a Ferris wheel, a museum and a glowing field of lights.
The developer is now proposing to include 1,325 apartments, nearly 40 percent of which would be offered permanently below market-rate rent, in its hotel tower complex. The company’s officials say it would be the largest number of such apartments to be built in the neighborhood in at least a decade.
The developers say the deal is contingent on Soloviev getting the casino license.
“We’re not required to do it,” said Michael Hershman, the firm’s CEO, according to the New York Times. Hershman cited a plan approved by the city previously allowing Soloviev to build mixed-use towers at the site without affordable housing. Hershman told the Times that the addition of a casino would make the low-cost housing “economically viable.”
Soloviev’s complex would be known as Freedom Plaza. Hershman has said the project meets the local community’s greatest needs—housing and green space.
Meanwhile, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen used Sportico’s Invest in Sports conference to plug his proposal to place a casino next to the entrance of the Mets’ Citi Field ballpark. In comments at the show, Cohen said a casino would give fans options before and after games.
“The fans want something to do before the game, after the game,” Cohen said, according to Fox News. “There’s nothing going on. The only thing you can do at Citi Field is get your hubcap changed or maybe get back a catalytic converter. The way I would describe it is 50 acres of cement.”
The competition for the New York City license has been intense. The state has authorized three downstate casino licenses, but many expect the area’s two racinos, Genting’s Resorts World NYC in Queens and MGM’s Empire City Casino in Yonkers, will be awarded two of those licenses, leaving nine bidders for the sole New York City license.
While the casino competition heats up, the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office is advising caution and careful analysis, after a report from the state Gaming Commission logged a 26 percent increase in problem gambling-related calls since the start of sports betting.
