A changing Eastern gaming landscape finds a construction frenzy continuing, with developers upping the ante, building bigger and better casino resorts, and heating up the competition between neighboring states.
New upscale properties are opening in Atlantic City and at Connecticut’s two Native American casinos, adding to the choice of glitzy and palatial meeting sites.
Pennsylvania now has its first standalone casino resort and came out of nowhere to become 2007’s top revenue-producer among the 11 racino (racetrack casino) states, topping $1 billion.
Yonkers, N.Y., and Lincoln, R.I., now boast casinos at racetracks that are among the country’s largest. Delaware’s facilities have also been expanding.
However, the economy, gas prices, and the credit squeeze have entered the equation, dampening a game largely initiated by states hungry for revenues and seeking to shore up ailing racing industries.
Citing “challenging economic and capital market conditions,” the Seneca Gaming Corp. recently announced a decision to suspend construction on $463 million worth of projects at two New York casinos.
Still at the starting gate are Maryland and Massachusetts, both awaiting legislative approval for gaming. If passed, a Maryland constitutional amendment on the November ballot will allow up to 15,000 total slots at five locations—as many as Pennsylvania has now. Massachusetts failed to get legislative approval for three large-scale casinos during the 2008 session.
New Jersey
Atlantic City began a new chapter five years ago with the opening of the 2,000-room Borgata, a significant step in shedding its day-tripper image. The transformation continues: another 3,000 guest rooms have opened in five properties this year.
“Atlantic City keeps evolving. With new non-gaming hotels, it’s adding to the fact that this is a full destination town,” says Michael Bruckler, media relations manager at the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority (ACCVA).
The city is “now challenging Las Vegas in fundamental measures, including guest satisfaction and certain emotional experiences,” according to Market Metrix, a San Rafael, Calif.-based survey and analysis firm, in an hospitality index issued early this year.
New hotels and hotel expansions are coming on the scene.
Billed as the city’s “first boutique lifestyle hotel,” the 800-room Water Club opened in June. The $400 million non-gaming hotel has a two-story spa, 18,000 square feet of meeting space, five heated indoor and outdoor pools and designer shops.
A partnership of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage, The Water Club completes a two-phase, $600 million Borgata expansion, bringing investment in the two hotels to $1.7 billion.
Earlier this year, Harrah’s Atlantic City unveiled its 960-room, 44-story Waterfront Tower, bringing its room total to 2,590, and completing the resort’s $550 million renovation and expansion. Phases opened last year include a spa, additional gaming space, a retail promenade and a four-acre entertainment and pool complex.
The first 20 floors of Trump Taj Mahal’s new 39-story, 786-room Chairman Tower opened before Labor Day. The $250 million investment also includes a makeover of the existing 1,250-room casino hotel.
The city’s first new non-casino hotel in more than a decade opened in May: the 206-room Courtyard by Marriott at Pacific and North Carolina avenues.
The Boardwalk claimed its first non-gaming boutique hotel in July with the opening of the Chelsea. With a retro Hollywood theme, the 331-room property features a saltwater pool, two restaurants, a 4,400-square-foot banquet room and a 5,000-square-foot outdoor pool and cabana area that can be used for events.
Projects on the drawing board include Pinnacle Entertainment’s proposed $1.2 billion casino resort on the Sands Casino Hotel site, with an expected 2011 opening; Revel Entertainment’s $2 billion, 4,000-room casino for a site near the Showboat; and, with an anticipated 2012 opening, MGM Mirage’s $4.5 billion plus, 3,000-room resort.
Pennsylvania
The top racino state has more than 15,000 slot machines, but no table games.
Of 11 casinos approved after the Keystone State legalized gaming in 2004, seven are operating—all but one a racino. All six racinos given the go-ahead are open, with some operating in temporary facilities are now unveiling permanent ones.
The $360 million, 188-room Mount Airy in the Pocono Mountains debuted in November 2007, the first of five standalone casinos approved. Built on the site of the long-closed Mount Airy Lodge, it features a 2,500-slot casino and 7,200 square feet of meeting space.
The first casino, opened in November 2006, was Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs near Wilkes-Barre, 40 miles from Mount Airy. In July it held the grand opening for its new $208 million, 300,000-square-foot, 2,000-slot permanent facility with bars, restaurants and a nightclub.
The newest and sixth racino, the $310 million, 2,000-slot Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, opened in February. A buffet and 237 more slot machines will be added to the thoroughbred track near Harrisburg by year’s end.
Near Pittsburgh, the Meadows Racetrack & Casino, which opened its 1,825-slot facility in June 2007, will add a $175 million, 4,200-slot permanent casino with new dining venues next spring. Originally a 400-room hotel was planned, but with 750 hotel rooms nearby, the owners opted for a larger casino instead.
Philadelphia Park Casino & Racetrack in Bensalem broke ground last March on a $350 million, 4,000-slot casino that will replace its existing 2,700-slot facility. Slated for a fall 2009 completion, it will include eight restaurants and three bars.
The two permanent casinos opened early last year, the 2,700-slot Harrah’s Chester Downs near Philadelphia and the 2,000-slot Presque Isle Downs in Erie, are also new racetracks.
Another gaming resort under construction opens next year: Las Vegas Sands’ $600 million Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem. Located on the Bethlehem Steel site, the 124-acre resort will include a 300-room hotel, 200,000 square feet of retail, a 5,000-slot casino, a 50,000-square-foot event center and the new National Museum of Industrial History.
Two of the proposed properties are for sites on the Delaware River in Philadelphia: Foxwoods, which would include a $560 million first phase with a 3,200-slot casino, and the $550 million SugarHouse Casino, which would include a 700-room hotel. Another is Pittsburgh’s $800 million Majestic Star Casino.
New England
Connecticut’s two gaming dynamos keep expanding.
The $700 million, 825-room MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket opened in May and features a 4,000-seat theater, a 1,400-slot casino with 53 table games, a nightclub, a spa, 115,000 square feet of meeting space and headline entertainment.
Before the expansion, Foxwoods was already equipped with six casinos, 1,416 rooms, five entertainment venues, a spa, golf and more than 50,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, boasting 100,000 square feet of meeting space, has completed two phases of its $925 million Project Horizon. Late August saw Casino of the Wind open with 45,000 square feet of gaming and new dining and retail offerings, including a 16,000-square-foot Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. Sunrise Square, an Asian-themed gaming area and a Hong Kong “street food” outlet, opened last year.
With an expected fall 2010 completion, a May groundbreaking was held for the third phase, a 919-room tower developed in partnership with House of Blues. Among its facilities will be a 36,000-square-foot music hall and a 3,000-square-foot special events room.
Upon completion, the resort will have 7,000 slots, 380 table games, 2,100 rooms, 75 restaurant and retail outlets, 30 bars and lounges, and four entertainment venues.
Last year, the two resorts together had gaming revenues of $2.5 billion, a 1.6 percent increase over 2006, according to Casino City’s 2008-2009 Indian Gaming Industry report produced by Alan Meister, an economist with the Boston-based Analyst Group.
In Rhode Island, Twin River, the former Lincoln Park, a year ago completed a $220 million expansion that more than doubled the size of its casino building, increasing its number of slots from 3,000 to 4,752, and adding a 29,000-square-foot event center and new restaurants.
Newport Grand is planning a grand opening for its $20 million expansion nearing completion that will add new restaurants and increase its number of slots from 835 to 2,100.
Maine’s lone casino, Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood Slots, Hotel & Raceway in Bangor, recently unveiled a 151-room hotel with a banquet capacity of 150 and a boardroom. The $132 million project also includes a new 1,000-slot casino and a lounge and buffet.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s measure to develop three casinos failed in the legislature in March. A number of proposals are waiting, including one by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe for a $1 billion casino for a site in Middleborough, south of Boston, for which it is seeking U.S Department of the Interior approval.
New York
With casinos operated only by Native American tribes at the century’s turn, the Empire State set out to expand gaming to racetracks. It has achieved its original goal of having eight.
Now there are plans to develop up to 4,500 slots at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. At press time the state administration was determining a selection process.
The newest and largest casino is the $300 million, 5,500-slot Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, unveiled in October 2006. The same year, Houston-based Nevada Gold and Casinos opened the 750-slot Tioga Downs in Nicols and the 1,000-slot Vernon Downs Racetrack near Syracuse, also renovating the racetracks, which had been closed.
The big news is Empire Resorts’ proposed $1 billion gaming resort in Sullivan County, which it expects to open in summer 2010. It would replace its Monticello Gaming & Raceway, and would be on the 160-acre site of the historic Concord Hotel, closed for almost a decade and where demolition was about to begin.
The project is to include a 750-room hotel, a 7,500-seat event center, a 3,000-slot casino, a convention center, 15 to 18 food and beverage outlets, a 5/8th mile harness race track and 100,000 square feet of retail shops.
With three Class III casinos, the Seneca Nation of Indians has been expanding—until recently.
It suspended work on a 200-room second hotel tower at Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel in Salamanca, earlier slated for a mid-2009 opening. It opened a $40 million, 2,000-seat event center there last March and a $160 million, 212-room hotel adjacent to its 1,900-slot casino last year.
Its Buffalo Creek Casino opened in downtown Buffalo in June last year. Work was suspended on a $333 million permanent casino that had been expected to open in 2010 with 2,000-slots and a 206-suite hotel.
Seneca also has the 604-room Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel, opened in March 2006, which has 30,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa and a 4,200-slot casino.
The Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Resort and Casino, east of Syracuse, celebrated its 15th anniversary in July. The meetings standout has 700 rooms in four deluxe hotels, plus more than 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Delaware
With three racinos, and preparing for Pennsylvania competition, Delaware passed legislation in 2006 allowing casino slot increases, and two have since expanded.
Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, which has 18,000 square meeting space, opened its latest of three expansion phases in July—a 70,000-square-foot casino addition, increasing its slots from 2,500 to 3,200, and adding three new restaurants, a lounge, and retail shops.
In a $52 million expansion last year, the property added a spa and increased rooms from 232 to 500, making it Delaware’s largest hotel. In 2006, it underwent its first casino expansion.
Also, Harrington Raceway & Casino opened a new $40 million wing in summer last year, adding 600 slots for a total of more than 2,200, and new restaurants.
Eastern Canada
The provinces of Ontario and Quebec have seen casino resort growth in recent years.
In Windsor, Ontario, just across the border form Detroit, the big news is the expansion and rebranding of Caesars Windsor, formerly Casino Windsor, which recently added a 27-story hotel tower and 5,000-seat arena with retractable seating and state-of-the art audiovisual technology. The 758-room property now offers over 100,000 square feet of meeting space.
Ontario casinos also include properties in Niagara Falls, most notably the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, which opened in 2004 with a 3,000-slot casino, a 368-room hotel tower, a spa and extensive meetings facilities.
Quebec offers two major casino resorts, including the Casino du Lac Leamy located near Ottawa in Gatineau. The 1,800-slot casino is attached to the 349-room Hilton Lac du Leamy, which includes a conference center accommodating groups of up to 1,600 people. East of Quebec City, the Casino de Charlevoix in Pointe-au-Pic is part of a complex that includes the 405-room Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, which has meeting facilities accommodating up to 1,000 people, a 27-hole golf course and a spa.
Quebec’s largest gaming venue is the 3,200-slot Casino de Montreal, a complex of multiple buildings that includes several restaurants, a 500-seat cabaret theater and elegant meeting rooms accommodating up to 200 people.
