A Hudson Yards casino was too big of a gamble: Wynn Resorts is out, and Related is moving forward with a project anchored by an office tower instead.
Wynn announced Monday that it is withdrawing from its partnership with Related Companies to apply for a state casino license in the Western Yards. The company blamed the city’s rezoning process.
“The recent rezoning process has made it clear to us that there are uses for our capital more accretive to our shareholders, such as investment in our existing and upcoming developments and stock buy backs, than investing in an area in which we, or any casino operator, will face years of persistent opposition despite our willingness to [employ] 5,000 New Yorkers,” the company said in a statement.
Related also announced that it would instead move forward with building up to 4,000 housing units on the site and pursue a plan that looks more like its original 2009 vision for the Western Yards. The company framed this new direction as an “historic agreement” reached with Council member Erik Bottcher.
“This is an enormous economic investment in New York City—and it would not be happening without public-private partnership and the collaboration we have had from Council Member Bottcher, supportive elected officials and leadership in organized Labor,” CEO Jeff Blau said in a statement.
Bottcher said that he won “significant concessions” from Related, including increasing the amount of housing and green space planned for the project, which will now include a 6.6-acre public park. He pointed to Wynn’s announcement as a concession as well.
“This casino proposal did not meet the high bar of community support that such a consequential project demands,” he said in a statement. “I have always said that any development of this scale must put the needs of New Yorkers first — and that means housing.”
The news comes nearly a month after Related tried to sweeten its proposal by increasing the number of housing units planned for the Western Yards from 1,500 to as many as 4,000.
The developer has argued that a casino would be needed to fund the development of the Western Yards, especially to cover the cost of a $2 billion platform over the active train tracks on the development site. Last month, the developer pitched a way to pay for the platform, using expected surplus payments in lieu of taxes. Such an arrangement would require City Council action.
Related is still pursuing that payment option, but is swapping the casino with an office building and hotel instead. The developer said that it is also seeking the property tax break 485x, which would mean setting aside 25 percent of the rental units as affordable if it receives the benefit. Related would then include up to 1,000 affordable apartments, up from the 400 originally planned.
Last year, Related filed an application to amend a rezoning that was approved in 2009, which called for 5,800 housing units. Related said the changes were needed because the original development mix, which included luxury condominium units, was no longer financially viable. The developer was adamant that the Western Yards would go undeveloped without the casino and the rezoning.
The developer’s $12 billion casino vision for the site faced considerable opposition. Community Board 4 and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine objected to Related’s reduction of housing units from the 2009 plan. Friends of the High Line argued that the project needed to be more “symbiotic” with the High Line, which meant scaling down the casino and resort portion of the project. Related has agreed to reduce the density and height of the podiums “to better connect the buildings to the surrounding neighborhood.”
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