Steve Wynn touts USD 1.6 B casino

"It's the non-casino things that people get on airplanes and put up with body searches and stuff like that for," he explained at a real estate industry seminar at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. "That's what gets them."

Wynn also acknowledged his company's ongoing dispute with Boston Mayor Martin Walsh's administration, which has filed suit to block the development across the Mystic River from Boston.

"The mayor is suing because it's not enough," he said, referring to the compensation payments state regulators have ordered the casino to give Boston. "Hopefully the mayor doesn't slow us down. It's a $100 million a month benefit to everybody the day we open."

The neighboring cities of Somerville and Revere have also sued to block Wynn's casino.

Wynn Resorts won the sole gambling license for the Boston region in September, one of up to three regional resort casino licenses authorized by state lawmakers.

The company recently finalized the USD 35 million purchase of its 33-acre casino site.

The former chemical plant land requires about USD 30 million in environmental remediation. Wynn hopes to begin that cleanup in spring 2015.

MGM Resorts International is developing a USD 800 million resort casino in Springfield while Penn National Gaming is investing USD 225 million to expand the harness racing track in Plainville into a slot parlor.