A casino planned for a shopping mall in Newburgh, New York is one step closer to reality now that the town board has approved a zoning change for the district.
According to the Middletown, New York Herald Record, the five-member board also voted unanimously to approve a host agreement with casino operator Resorts World. The Genting subsidiary has offered to pay the town $3 million a year to cover additional policing and other costs.
Resorts World is now waiting for the go-ahead to turn nearly a quarter of the mall into a casino with 1,300 video lottery terminals, for a 90,000-square-foot gaming facility inside the 40-year-old mall. It will relocate the machines that were formerly used at Monticello Raceway, which also provided the license for the new casino.
The $32 million project could be completed six months after approval, though it might be hampered by pandemic-related shortages of construction materials.
Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio said the board has given “serious consideration” to all public comments and noted the project involved “the repurposing of an existing premises which is struggling to attract new, viable occupants and very little in the way of physical alternations.”
Genting’s Resorts World Catskills, located about an hour west of Newburgh, has struggled since it opened several years ago. The Newburgh facility gives the company access to a great population base and will likely ease the financial difficulties of the Catskills gaming hall.
