NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- The bid for a casino in Manhattan’s Times Square has ended after members of a community advisory committee voted down the project in a key vote Wednesday.
The project, backed by SL Green Realty Corp. and Caesars Entertainment Inc., failed to secure four of six votes required to move ahead to New York Gaming Facility Location Board. It received just two votes in the affirmative, including one from Mayor Eric Adams’ committee appointee.
It’s a major loss for SL Green and Caesars, who teamed up in 2022 to pursue one of three gaming licenses that will be awarded later this year for the downstate area of New York.
Their plan, which would have transformed an aging office building into Caesars Palace Times Square, would have generated an estimated $23.3 billion in gambling revenue over 10 years. But it drew significant backlash from local community groups, who were concerned about the potential increase in crime, sanitation issues and traffic congestion. Owners of Broadway theaters in the neighborhood also opposed the casino.
The proposal was one of eight submitted in June by developers and casino operators for the gaming licenses, which will be awarded in December. Three of the bids, including the now-rejected Times Square effort, propose bringing a casino to Manhattan.
Silverstein Properties’ proposal with Rush Street Gaming and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment for the Avenir, a 1.8 million-square-foot (167,000-square-meter) and $7 billion project on undeveloped land at 41st Street and 11th Avenue, will also be voted on Wednesday.
Other contenders still awaiting their CAC votes include billionaire Steve Cohen’s project near Citi Field in Queens and Soloviev Group’s Freedom Plaza project with Mohegan. All votes are due by end of September.