Resorts World details new casino pitch, but plays some cards close to the chest
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A rendering of Resorts World New York City’s proposed casino expansion. Rendering via Resorts World
By Jacob Kaye
Resorts World New York City unveiled a slew of new details about its plans to transform its South Queens “racino” into what would be the largest casino in the United States last week.
From the size and scope of the project – by square foot, no casino in the country is larger than their proposed facility – to their plans to build an “innovation center” on the casino’s campus, top officials at Resorts World revealed a number of previously undisclosed particulars about their plan, which is in competition with seven other bidders hoping to win one of the three downstate casino licenses currently up for grabs.
The overview of the proposal was presented on Monday to the local Community Advisory Committee, a group of elected officials and their appointees who will soon vote in support of or in opposition to the casino plan.
But while the Queens group lifted the curtain on the general contours of their $5.5 billion proposal, they also continued to play some of their cards close to their chest.
Like each of the eight other casino bidders, Resorts World’s application to the state’s Gaming Commission submitted last month is littered with redactions. The redactions are allowed by the commission in an effort to help preserve trade secrets and maintain competitive advantages.
Applicants across the board redacted information about their respective project’s impact on their local community and about how they plan to finance their respective plans.
But while some casino hopefuls chose to only redact smaller sections of their applications, Resorts World appeared to take a more heavy handed approach to blacking out the public documents.
Nearly all of the well-over 100 documents submitted to the Gaming Commission by Resorts World were completely redacted when posted online to the commission’s website – both the commission and Resorts World’s Community Advisory Committee were given non-redacted versions of the documents.
Some of the redactions appear on documents detailing more strategic elements of the proposal, including financial forecasts, market research and their construction timeline. Similar documents were redacted by the other casino applicants.
But Resorts World, which has been in operation in Queens for the past 15 years, also redacted documents detailing more mundane information, like their organizational chart, the number of parking spots they plan to have, and the restaurants they hope to open.
They also redacted documents featuring information that is already public, like a document that lists the lobbyists they employed for the project and one that lists the firms they are partnering with. Only one other bidder chose to redact information about the firms they were working with and only two others chose to redact information about the lobbyists they employed.
In their application, Resorts World told the Gaming Commission that they expect to bring in $2.2 billion annually in revenue by 2027 if granted a license. But when asked by the CAC on Monday about the revenue they expect the project to generate, Resorts Worlds officials took a more opaque approach.
“In the application, there's information that was presented, most of which I'm sure has been redacted,” said Robert DeSalvio, the president of Genting Americas East, the company that owns Resorts World New York City. “We know that we already do $1 billion in revenue today, so that number will go substantially higher, but I'd rather we wait till the final [supplemental] application is put in before we really give you the final.”
Resorts World declined to comment for this story.
‘Painstakingly prepared’
Resorts World is one of two bidders hoping to turn their partial casino into a fully functional one – the other is MGM Empire City in Yonkers.
The Queens racino first opened in 2011 and currently features a number of slots and other electronic betting games. Winning a casino license would allow Resorts World to open 800 gaming tables and expand to 6,000 slot machines.
The proposal also includes plans to build 2,000 hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat arena, 30 bars and restaurants, a spa, a day club, a convention area and 12-acres of public green space. Resorts World claims the project would create up to 24,000 jobs.
Resorts World has also committed to putting $1.5 billion into community benefits, including $150 million toward infrastructure improvements, $50 million toward its proposed “innovation campus” and $25 million to its existing charity program, Resorts World Gives.
Perhaps Resorts World’s biggest advantage is that it could begin construction on the expanded casino and entertainment complex the day after its granted a license.
On Friday, the Franchise Oversight Board unanimously approved Resort World’s State Environmental Quality Review plan, giving them all necessary approvals to build the casino, with the exception of the license.
Resorts World New York City unveiled some new details about their casino expansion proposal last week. Renderings via Resorts World
Beyond having the necessary city and state permissions, Resorts World’s existing operation would likely allow it to open far sooner than some of the other proposed projects. According to Resorts World, they could begin to welcome full-scale casino guests as early as July 2026. By comparison, some of the other proposals likely wouldn’t open for at least half a decade.
That includes Mets owner Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park, which wouldn’t be able to open until June 30, 2030.
“No other proposal can come close to our speed to market,” said Kevin Jones, Resorts World’s chief legal and strategy officer. “That advantage, our capability that we have painstakingly prepared for for 15 years as an already fully operating casino – there is no completion or operation risk with our bid.”
What comes next
Resorts World was one of the first bidders to present their project to their respective CACs last week.
Their committee is comprised of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards; State Senator James Sanders; State Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato; the governor’s deputy director of intergovernmental affairs on Long Island, Stevens Martinez; Nicole Garcia, who serves as the Queens borough commissioner of the city’s Department of Transportation; and Betty Braton, the chair of Community Board 10.
Gaining the CAC’s support is crucial for all bidders. Four of the six CAC members have to vote in support of the project in order for the Gaming Commission to consider it for a license.
Each of the bidders’ CACs will hold at least two public hearings on their respective projects before Sept. 30, the day each of the CACs’ recommendations are due.
Here are the eight bidders hoping to win one of the three casino licenses – the Avenir, proposed to built on Manhattan’s West Side; Bally’s, proposed to be built on the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx; Caesars Palace, planned for Times Square; The Coney, proposed for Coney Island; Freedom Plaza, proposed to be built next to the United Nations building on 1st Avenue in Manhattan; MGM Empire City, the existing partial casino in Yonkers; Metropolitan Park, proposed to be built in Citi Field’s parking lot in Queens; and Resorts World, the proposed expansion of the existing racino in South Queens.
The Gaming Commission is expected to award three bidders with a license in the final days of 2025.
