Marc Holliday isn’t giving up on the dream of a Times Square casino.
After an advisory committee rejected SL Green’s bid for a casino at 1515 Broadway a month ago, Holliday on Thursday said the company’s proposal “isn’t completely dead.”
“The whole process and the outcome is unknown,” Holliday said on SL Green’s third quarter earnings call. “How many bidders will there be? How many licenses will be awarded? And whether, if any are held back, there will be another shot for casinos in Manhattan or otherwise to come into play.”
“I think this is still a process that’s playing out,” he added.
SL Green’s proposal for a casino with Caesars Entertainment, Roc Nation and Live Nation was rejected in September. The decision prompted Holliday to lash out at the committee members, and he continued to criticize the process on the earnings call.
Other Manhattan proposals by Silverstein Properties and Stefan Soloviev were also rejected.
After that, favorites for the licenses appeared to be Resorts World NYC in Queens and Steve Cohen’s bid next to Citi Field. But on Monday, MGM Resorts announced it was dropping what was considered a shoo-in bid for a casino in Yonkers, possibly putting another license back into play.
Holliday said that 1515 Broadway’s biggest tenant, Paramount Global, is in a stronger financial position after it was purchased by Skydance Media in August for $8.4 billion, though it was unclear what the company’s space needs would be.
He said one of the benefits of making the casino bid was that SL Green learned the building converts well to other uses, like entertainment or a hotel, and that the property has good financial flexibility with low debt.
“That’s a good scenario for us to look at all options,” he said.
Across its portfolio, SL Green reported office occupancy of 92.4 percent. Holliday said the company is on track to hit its goal of 93.2 percent by the end of the year.
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