Times Square Casino Group Pledges $250M Community Investment if Awarded License

Posted on: June 26, 2024, 02:04h. 

Last updated on: June 26, 2024, 02:27h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

The group behind a plan to bring a casino hotel to Times Square is reportedly promising $250 million in investments in the neighborhood — expenditures that are contingent on winning a gaming permit.

Times Square Casino
Times Square in New York. Backers of a casino project there are promising $250 million in local investments if they win a gaming license. (Image: CitySignal)

amNewYork Metro reported Caesars Entertainment, real estate developer SL Green, and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation entertainment agency, the consortium angling for the Times Square casino, could make in-depth environmental investments in the Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen areas as well as efforts to support local small businesses.

We want everyone around us to win if we win,” Brett Herschenfeld, executive vice president at  SL Green, told amNewYork Metro. “I’m not just talking about big businesses. We need to bring benefits to the restaurants, the small mom-and-pop restaurant businesses, and we need to bring benefits to the residents. They are the lifeblood of Times Square.”

Among the pledges made by the gaming group are plans to improve sanitation in the Times Square area, including efforts to promote more frequent sidewalk and street cleaning, and prioritizing protection of the neighborhood’s already limited park space.

Local Support Essential for Times Square Casino Hopes

Herschenfeld’s comments to amNewYork Metro arrived a week after the No Times Square Casino Coalition announced that three more organizations joined the opposition group, underscoring the point that wooing local businesses and residents could be essential to hopes of bringing a gaming venue to the theater district.

In May, a poll revealed that 71% of those surveyed don’t want a gaming venue in the theater district, and 59% strongly oppose the plan. Critics assert that a casino in Times Square would be a danger to restaurants and theater operators because guests would be more compelled to stay inside the gaming venue, devoting their time to betting, rather than frequenting the neighborhood’s art and culinary offerings.

Caesars and SL Green are attempting to convince naysayers that the outcomes with a casino could be different. In February 2023, the companies announced a plan to link the popular Caesars Rewards loyalty platform to various businesses in Times Square. That would allow for program members to accrue and use points at those establishments.

Should  Caesars be awarded one of three downstate gaming licenses, SL Green is promising to start its neighborhood investments as soon as that happens rather than waiting for the casino to open.

“I’m starting the investment the day I win the license. I’m not waiting until we open for business,” Herschenfeld told amNewYork Metro. “I will start making those investments in the community the second I win that license.”

Times Square Casino Backs Make Big Environmental Pledges

Environmental issues could be determining factors in the credibility of some New York City-area casino bids. As one of the largest real estate developers in the city, SL Green is well-versed in environmental reviews and related processes.

SL Green is taking steps to bolster related credentials in Times Square, including a pledge to provide financial assistance to the Lower East Side Ecology Center, an area composting center that has been hit with budget cuts.

It’s estimated that final decisions on the three winning bidders for the downstate gaming licenses could be unveiled in late 2025 or early the following year.