Wynn, Related Fold On Hudson Yards Casino
A Hudson Yards casino is no longer in the cards for Wynn Resorts.
The Las Vegas hospitality company has withdrawn its bid for one of three casino licenses up for grabs in the greater New York City area, it announced Monday.
It had partnered with Related Cos. and Oxford Properties, which are moving forward without a casino element in their plans for a $12B development over the 13-acre Western Rail Yards, the second phase of the largest private commercial development in U.S. history.
In its statement, Wynn cited community opposition to the Hudson Yards project as its reason for exiting.
“The recent rezoning process has made it clear to us that there are uses for our capital more accretive to our shareholders, such as investment in our existing and upcoming developments and stock buy backs, than investing in an area in which we, or any casino operator, will face years of persistent opposition despite our willingness to employ 5,000 New Yorkers,” Wynn's statement says.
The developers recently adjusted their bid, removing an office skyscraper and proposing to build two residential towers that would offer as many as 4,000 housing units. The prior iteration would have added 1,500 units to the area.
To be able to make the project pencil, the group was seeking a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes public-private financing structure, which was used to fund the first phase of Hudson Yards. The estimated cost to deck over the remaining rail yards is $2B.
Related officials previously said that office and hotel components would generate enough revenue to cover the cost of construction, whereas a housing-centric development wouldn't.
Related, Oxford and Wynn hoped those changes would increase support for the project as it undergoes the final stage of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher, whose support is key for ULURP approval, said in a statement Monday that he opposed the casino, claiming that it didn't “meet the high bar of community support that such a consequential project demands.”
He said that he looks forward to advancing the ULURP without the casino to bring housing and additional green space to the site.
Related now plans to advance an office building, add more green space and increase the proposed affordable units as part of a deal with Bottcher to approve the PILOT payments and advance the project, Crain's New York Business reports.
As the deadline to submit casino bids approaches next month, some stated contenders have fallen by the wayside. Before Wynn threw in the towel, Las Vegas Sands Corp. folded its casino offering at the site of Nassau Coliseum, and Saks Fifth Avenue called it quits on a proposal to build a casino atop its Midtown department store.
