Award-winning rapper Jay-Z has appeared as part of a delegation making a pitch for a $5.4 billion Caesars Palace Times Square casino project in New York.
The Roc Nation co-founder, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was among representatives for Caesars Palace and SL Green as they presented their bid to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for one of the three $500 million downstate licenses available.
As part of its proposal, the group has pledged $250 million in community benefits with the ambition of putting a casino in the heart of Manhattan, converting an existing office building at 1515 Broadway.
Is New York going to have a new casino?
New York will eventually boast three new land-based casinos once the licenses have been awarded, as opposed to the online casinos that aren’t state regulated.
The projects presented so far stretch beyond Manhattan.
Caesar Palace’s application is one of eight that have been submitted to the New York State Gaming Commission and is one of three with plans to be Manhattan-based, along with The Avenir on the far West Side in Midtown and Freedom Plaza which is focussed on the East Side community.
Other areas which have been the focus of proposals include 50 acres of parking lots near Citi Field in Queens, to be called Metropolitan Park, an expansion of Resorts World in Jamaica, Queens, the former Trump Golf Links to become Bally’s Bronx, Coney Island in Brooklyn and another expansion planned for MGM Empire City in Yonkers.
What did Jay-Z say about the new casino?
“This is what New York really looks like, the programs and things that we’ve done,” said Jay-Z, who grew up in Brooklyn and outlined his own company’s contribution to causes in the areas of social and racial justice and criminal justice reform, overseen by Team Roc.
If successful, the Caesar’s project would create more than 3,000 construction jobs and once up and running should provide 3,800 permanent positions available to New Yorkers.
“When we come into a space, particularly like Broadway, we’re not coming to compete with Broadway,” he added.
“We’re coming to be additive. Anything that we’ve done in the past, we’ve always included the community.
“We’ve never excluded the community. So for us, it’s important.”
What Would The Caesars Palace Times Square Casino look like?
Caesars already runs a successful sports betting app in the State but now has ambitions to take its place in the heart of Times Square.
Brett Herschenfeld, executive vice president of SL Green, spoke in more detail about how the $5.4 billion project would benefit the surrounding area, rather than be all-consuming competition.
There are plans for a 992-room hotel above the Minskoff Theatre, but that would equate to less than 30 per cent of the 3,500 available.
There are just four restaurants planned for 1515 Broadway and the group confirmed it would not have any retail presence, effectively funnelling a potential $900 million in annual sales to local stores.
What happens next?
The CAC requires a two-thirds majority (four votes) to progress the applicant to the New York Gaming Facility Board by the deadline of September 30.
If CAC fails to hold a vote by that date, the applicant will be classed as rejected.
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
