Licenses to be awarded this fall
The 22 applicants for casino licenses in New York State may not be all in for the long haul, according to a report in the Poughkeepsie Journal. While each one of the applicants paid $1 million to apply for a license, some could be winnowed out as the vetting process proceeds.
“I think the fee is a door-opener, a placeholder for some people,” said John Sabini, former chairman of the state Racing and Wagering Board. “Obviously, there are some real contenders in here, and some who are more interested in horse trading or jockeying.”
Of the 22 applicants, 18 are developers or casino operators. These include giants like Genting, Foxwoods and Caesars Entertainment as well as Penn National Gaming, which has partnered with the Cordish Companies in its proposal to build a casino in Orange County. The final four are a mixed bag of regional development groups: Hudson Valley Gaming; Capital Region Gaming; Och-Ziff Real Estate (a sometimes partner of Hard Rock International); and Rolling Hills Entertainment. If big-gaming forces are involved with those groups, it is not yet apparent.
Last fall, Empire State voters approved a gaming expansion that will allow seven casinos in all, with the first four located in upstate New York. It has been widely speculated that the Hudson Valley-Catskills region will get two licenses, while one will be granted for the Capital Region, and one for the Southern Tier area.
Among the serious bidders is the Genting Group, operator of Resorts World Casino New York City at Aqueduct. The Malaysia-based company proposes a 238-acre resort complex on the site of the Tuxedo Ridge Ski Center in Orange County, reports the Associated Press. The property, to be named Sterling Forest Resorts, would include a casino, two hotels, restaurants and facilities for year-round outdoor recreation, including skiing. Genting says the project would create more than 2,000 jobs and double the tax base in the town of Tuxedo.
“Destination resorts are our specialty,” said Genting executive Christian Goode. “We are excited to work with local municipalities and the State of New York to acquire a site where we can build a facility that will help further bolster the Empire State’s thriving tourism economy.”
The company’s track record in the state is already impressive. According to the Western Queens Gazette, Resorts World “has sent more than $1.1 billion in revenue to New York State in less than two and a half years of operation,” making it the largest taxpayer in New York state.
The Hudson Valley Times Herald Record says “at least six casino proposals” target Orange County alone. They include one by Caesars Entertainment, which has partnered with Rochester-area developer David Flaum for a proposed $750 million facility near Woodbury Commons, 50 miles north of New York City.
New Jersey Assemblyman Ralph Caputo has slammed Caesars for pursuing a New York license when it has opposed a gaming expansion in the Garden State. According to the Atlantic City Press, Caputo, who is head of the Assembly Tourism and Gaming Committee, says Atlantic City’s largest casino operator “has been a major roadblock for the state over the past few years. They are our main opposition to growing the gaming industry in the state, and have not supported any opportunity to increase gaming revenue if it meant earning it outside of Atlantic City.” Caputo is the lead sponsor of a bill that calls that would develop a casino at the Meadowlands.
Some Catskills developers and politicians are up in arms about plans to develop in Orange County, which is closer to New York City and does not share the economic challenges of other upstate communities. They remind state gaming regulators that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s casino legislation was meant to help struggling areas of the state.
“The intent of the legislation was to bring it to an economically depressed area, and that’s what Sullivan County is,” said Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther.
County legislator Scott B. Samuelson said “amen” to that in a news release. “Sullivan County stands now as one of the most economically challenged areas in New York State,” Samuelson said. “We in Sullivan County have been waiting for this day to come, and we are ready to work with the developers to ensure Sullivan County receives two sites.”
Foxwoods, which hopes to develop a $400 million casino at the old Grossinger’s resort in the Catskills, has opened a local office in the town of Liberty. “We wanted to pick a location where people can come in and ask questions about the project,” said Jeff Kay of Muss Development, Foxwoods’ partner on the project.
“What we’re looking to create here is something that will blend in with the area, but also have some energy and some oomph to it,” said Sal Semola, president of Foxwoods Catskills Resort Casino. “Our architects described it as a contemporary lodge, so it’ll have some of that look and feel that a lodge would, with a little bit of energy to it on top of that.”
Rochester-area commercial developer Wilmorite is one of three companies looking to build a casino in the Southern Tier region. COO James Wilmot says the developer is negotiating with several gaming partners, and has the financial strength to underwrite the project. “We already have commitments from banks for all of the debt,” he said.
A Toronto-based developer wants to build a casino on land near the Thruway in Montgomery County. According to the Gloversville Leader-Herald, Clairvest Group Inc., a private equity management firm, has won gaming license approvals in Canada, the United States and Chile. The group says it’s “never been turned down from a gaming license application.”
“I was born in Amsterdam and grew up in Amsterdam,” said Peter Marcil of Bentley Associates, Clairvest’s investment banker on the project. “A casino would have many positive effects for the entire region, let alone Fulton and Montgomery counties.”
Saratoga Casino and Raceway is looking at two locations: Newburgh, some 60 miles north of New York City, and East Greenbush, across the Hudson River from Albany. Saratoga originally wanted to build in its backyard, but residents of Saratoga Springs balked at bringing a Vegas-style casino to the historic community. Racetrack owners are already facing opposition in East Greenbush, where opponents are organizing to block a casino.
“This is terrible,” said resident Dwight Jenkins. “You’re going to put it at the end of a neighborhood.”
The owners of Howe Caverns in Schoharie County want to build a casino on 330 acres there. Developer Emil Galasso says it’s the only site that offers “a built-in attraction with pre-approved plans for future development, such as a hotel and water park.”
In the Southern Tier, Traditions at the Glen resort and conference center is planning a $150 million casino. Other proposals have come from Tioga Downs Casino and racetrack in Nichols, and the Wilmorite real estate development firm, which is bidding for a $350 million casino and resort in Tyre.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and its partner Trading Cove New York also paid their $1 million fee to be part of the bidding war. They want to build a casino on 330 acres in the Sullivan County hamlet of Bridgeville.
While Sullivan County is expected to get two casinos, op-ed writer Barry Lewis of the Hudson Valley Times Herald Record says it’s not a sure thing. He added that outrage over possible development in Orange County is misplaced.
“Folks in Sullivan consider casinos an entitlement, their God-given right as long-suffering Sullivan taxpayers, a bridesmaid to Indian tribes across New York and a half-dozen neighboring states who have what has remained an unfulfilled decades long quest.
“Good or bad, profitable or not, an economic engine or fool’s gold, Sullivan County wants one. Or two. And they’ll be damned if this dream is suddenly dashed just because some casino operators think they have a better shot at hitting it big in Orange County,” he wrote. “But Sullivan is not entitled.”
Lewis wrote that the best casino is the one that makes the most money for the state.
“Yes, we have need,” he concluded. “A real need that can turn this area around. And heart and desire that keeps us pushing on. Push the positive. We’re not entitled to a casino. But we have what it takes to get one.”
Only state gaming regulators can make the final determination. The applicants have until June 30 to make their pitch for licenses that will be awarded in the fall.
