New York state rules on land casino sites

New York state’s Gaming Facility Location Board has selected three upstate counties – Sullivan, Schenectady and Seneca – for sites where land operators may build land casino resorts.

The announcement of the selected counties brings to an end fierce competition and lobbying by major casino operators keen to invest in the building the new gambling facilities. The Board decided to pass on selecting a fourth site due to the saturated status of the market in the state.

The Board detailed its permissions thus:

* The Montreign Resort Casino will be built by Empire Resorts in the Catskills town of Thompson in a $630 million project that will result in an 18-story casino and hotel complex, meeting spaces and an indoor waterpark. Empire Resorts operates through a subsidiary, the nearby Monticello Casino & Raceway.

* The $300 million Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbour in the city of Schenectady will be part of a larger redevelopment effort at a previously unsuccessful riverfront site. The project includes a hotel, a high-end steakhouse, 66 gambling tables and more than 1,100 slot machines.

* Lago Resort & Casino will be a $425 million project in the Finger Lakes town of Tyre in Seneca County, and will feature 2,000 slot machines.

After carefully considering the over-supply state of the gambling market, the Board decided to forego issuing a fourth licence in Orange County.

“We did take a look at what was happening in the entire industry,” Board member Kevin Law told local media. “At the end of the day we had to do what made financial sense.”

Applicants for the licenses submitted 16 bids, with the Catskills and mid-Hudson Valley locations attracting the most interest due to their proximity to New York City.

The Board considered a fair distribution of the employment and investment benefits, along with the state of the market and a need to avoid competing with existing tribal casinos in its deliberations.

The state expects the three projects to generate 3,200 jobs, $136 million in licensing fees for the state and $265 million in state tax revenues.