After more than two years of vying for public support for its casino proposal, SL Green Realty is officially out of the running.
Community Advisory Committees on Wednesday voted 4-2 to disapprove SL Green Realty’s pitch for a $5.4 billion casino in Times Square.
After the vote, SL Green CEO Marc Holliday asked if he could speak, but was told that the commission was not hearing public comment. Once the meeting was over, he stood up and chastised the committee members, aside from those appointed by the mayor and governor, who were the sole yes votes.
“What you did here today was a despicable display of cowardice, lack of leadership, lack of consideration for all the people who would benefit from this proposal,” he said. “We met the standard, and then some.”
He then quickly exited the meeting.
The no votes mean two Manhattan proposals remain. A CAC vote on Silverstein Properties’ proposal is slated for later Wednesday.
The other Manhattan bid is Soloviev Group and Mohegan’s $11 billion Freedom Plaza on Manhattan’s East Side. The CAC tasked with reviewing that project is slated to vote on the proposal on Sept. 22. Five other bids also await CAC votes, which will determine if the projects head to the state Gaming Facility Location Board, which will award three casino licenses. The board is expected to do so by the end of the year.
SL Green, which teamed up with Caesars Entertainment, Roc Nation and Live Nation, proposed converting its 2 million-square-foot office building at 1515 Broadway into a casino, 992-key hotel, restaurants and an entertainment venue.
The team also committed to $250 million in community investments, as well as allowing investors with as little as $500 to acquire equity in the project.
SL Green’s odds were lowered by the casino approval process itself. Members of the CAC were appointed by elected officials, including Sen. Liz Krueger, who made clear that she did not support a casino in Manhattan. The project also faced fierce opposition from the Broadway League, an influential trade group that represents the city’s theater industry, which argued that a casino would siphon from rather than complement Times Square businesses and entertainment venues.
The CACs that reviewed the remaining proposals must vote on their respective projects by Sept. 30.
Ahead of this key vote, some teams have continued to add perks to their proposals in an effort to make their projects more competitive. At its second public hearing, Soloviev increased the number of affordable housing units it will build from 513 to 600.
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