Posted on: March 3, 2023, 02:45h.
Final up to date on: March 3, 2023, 03:01h.
The Coney Island on line casino proposal from New York actual property large Thor Equities in a consortium that features Saratoga On line casino Holdings, the Chickasaw Nation, and Legends Hospitality has a reputation — “The Coney.”
Thor officers revealed the undertaking’s title via a press launch that moreover disclosed renderings of the built-in resort.
The proposal seeks to position a on line casino and resort close to the famed Coney Island Boardwalk and iconic 150-foot-tall Marvel Wheel.
Thor executives have secured a roughly five-acre plot at Surf Ave. and W. twelfth St. If the undertaking receives one of many three downstate on line casino licenses from New York’s Gaming Facility Location Board, Thor says the corporate, together with its improvement companions, will make investments $3 billion to rework Coney Island right into a gaming vacation spot that might assist revitalize the city that’s seen higher days.
Coney Comeback
Ought to The Coney prevail in what’s anticipated to be a extremely aggressive bidding conflict for the coveted downstate concessions, the on line casino could be inside strolling distance of Coney Island’s marquee sights. Together with the Marvel Wheel, Coney Island is greatest recognized for its Cyclone picket curler coaster, Luna Park amusements, and Nathan’s Well-known Sizzling Canine stand.
The Coney will assist revitalize Coney Island, bringing year-round jobs and world-class leisure to Brooklyn and New York Metropolis,” mentioned undertaking spokesman Eric Koch. “The undertaking’s revitalizing energy will assist drive a Coney Island comeback for a neighborhood that has lagged behind Brooklyn and the remainder of New York Metropolis in a number of areas, together with the next poverty fee, unemployment fee, and better charges of New Yorkers with out medical health insurance.”
Coney Island was a well-liked summer season vacation spot for New Yorkers in the course of the early a part of the twentieth century, however visitation started declining following World Battle II. Crime subsequently elevated, and the area fell into financial hardship beginning within the Sixties.
Quite a few revitalization efforts have been tried within the many years since, however Coney Island at the moment isn’t thought of a first-class trip vacation spot by most New Yorkers.
Thor, whose founder Joe Sitt is a Coney Island native, has for a few years sought to assist the Decrease New York Bay neighborhood flip its fortunes round. In 2005, Sitt pitched a Las Vegas-style lodge and amusement park and spent greater than $100 million buying land across the Boardwalk. That undertaking, which Sitt deliberate to mannequin after the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip, by no means got here to fruition.
$500M Charge, $500M Minimal
If Thor Equities and its on line casino companions are awarded one of many downstate New York on line casino licenses, the group might want to pay $500 million for the gaming license. New York’s on line casino guidelines then require that the license holder make investments a minimal of $500 million into the development of the resort.
The downstate on line casino bids have been forming over the previous a number of months.
On Lengthy Island, Las Vegas Sands needs to spend as a lot as $5 billion to construct an built-in on line casino resort on the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In Queens, billionaire Steve Cohen has advised constructing a on line casino resort with Onerous Rock Worldwide at his Citi Subject MLB ballpark that’s residence to his New York Mets.
Within the Bronx, the Bally’s Company and Trump Group are creating a on line casino pitch close to the latter’s Trump Golf Hyperlinks at Ferry Level.
In Manhattan, hedge fund tycoon Stephen Ross is partnered with Wynn Resorts for a improvement at his Hudson Yards complicated. A separate on line casino scheme concentrating on the East Facet simply south of the United Nations comes from billionaire Stefan Soloviev and Mohegan. Lastly, Caesars Leisure and SL Inexperienced, a number one New York actual property landlord, wish to place a on line casino in Occasions Sq..
Resorts World New York Metropolis in Queens close to JFK Airport and Empire Metropolis On line casino at Yonkers Raceway are heavy favorites for 2 of the three downstate licenses. Each racinos presently solely supply video lottery terminals and digital desk video games.
