Twenty-two contenders vie for casino rights in upstate New York

The Catskills attracted the most bidders, with Caesars Entertainment and Foxwoods joining several other groups competing for a license. There will be a limit of two casinos in each region. The Catskills and Hudson Valley received the most interest. At least five application payments were for sites in Orange County for potential casino sites and at least five for the Catskills.

Orange County, the closest eligible location to the city, has become a wild card in the calculus for many potential bidders. Casino supporters in places farther away say an Orange County casino would doom their projects to financial failure.

"It's an extinction-level event for the Nevele," said Michael Treanor, chief executive of a group that hopes to build a casino resort at the site of the old Nevele hotel in Ellenville, N.Y., in Ulster County.

Casino gambling had long been limited in New York to Indian reservations, and a version of it with computerized games is also available at racinos. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature passed a constitutional amendment in 2013 -approved by voters last November-allowing Las Vegas-style casinos with live table games.

The lure of casino development in the Catskills has piqued the interest of developers aware of the benefit of being so close to the city for decades. Upstate officials have also been big promoters of gambling development to make up for the lost economic activity when the era of the big Catskills resorts faded.
The groups to be considered for casinos include gambling industry titans such as Caesars Entertainment of Las Vegas, Penn National, Empire Resorts, Pinnacle Entertainment and Malaysian firm Genting Group, which submitted proposals in the first step of what is expected to be an intense bidding process to be selected to develop the four new casinos approved to be built in New York State, reported The New York Times. Also among the applicants are several owners of gambling establishments at the state's horse-racing tracks, known as racinos.

Voters endorsed a constitutional amendment permitting the casinos. They’re intended to spur upstate tourism and revitalize local communities. A state panel will recommend its top picks to the Gaming Commission.

Groups interested in the Catskills include: Empire Resorts, operators of a racino in Monticello; real-estate developers Muss Development and the Mashantucket Pequots, operators of the Foxwoods Resort Casino; Westchester developer Louis Cappelli; and Connecticut-based developer Len Wolman and Stockbridge-Munsee Indians. But when word spread that some groups were seriously considering Orange County as a casino site, "it started a gold rush," said State Senator John Bonacic, an upstate Republican who introduced the legislation for the gambling amendment.

High-powered developers and casino operators interested in Orange County include Caesars Entertainment, who has teamed up with real-estate developer David Flaum for a proposed site in Woodbury, N.Y., near Woodbury Common Premium Outlets.

Genting Group is considering a Tuxedo, N.Y., site and other locations in Orange County, said a person familiar with their plans. Real-estate developer Cordish Companies, based in Baltimore, is working with casino operator Penn National Gaming to build a proposed venue in South Blooming Grove, N.Y.
Mr. Bonacic said a casino in Orange County goes against the spirit of the legislation that aimed to revitalize regions that were struggling economically.
Sullivan County unemployment rate is 8.4% while Orange County is 6.3%, according to the state Labor Department. "I don't think any of them should go to Orange County," Mr. Bonacic said of the new casinos.

Business groups in the Catskills say the need is high in the region for a casino. "Sullivan County needs it for a catalyst," said Cathy Paty, president of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. "I don't think Orange County needs it."

The Gaming Facility Location Board will base 70% of its determination on how much economic activity a project will generate, 20% on its local impact and 10% on its workforce development plan. The board "will closely review all the applications according to comprehensive evaluation criteria to ensure the greatest benefit," said a spokesman for the New York State Gaming Commission.

Penn National Gaming said its Orange County site wouldn't hurt a Sullivan County site. The former would appeal to people interested in taking day trips from the city, while the Catskills would attract family vacationers on longer trips. "We think the economics are such that the two could coexist," said Eric Schippers, a spokesman for the company.

Formal bids on the casinos are due June 30, with the board expected to make final decisions by early fall, the report noted. Winners will be announced in the fall and developers will have two years from being picked to open their doors.