Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming January 2015 36 Feature City, the Resorts World racino at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, the highest-grossing slot floor in the United States. The project approved for the Catskills, Montreign, as it’s called, is being developed by publicly traded Empire Resorts, in which the family of Genting Chairman Lim Kok Thay holds a controlling stake. Empire also operates a racino at the nearby Monticello racetrack. Montreign envisions a $630 million resort next to the old Concord resort hotel, once the heart of the “Borscht Belt,” as it was known to New York City vacationers. Plans call for a 391-room hotel, a golf course, restaurants and entertainment venues, and they will sit next to land where Empire partner EPR Properties plans to build the Adelaar resort, with an indoor water park, an entertainment village, hiking trails and zip lines. Of the other projects recommended by the board, one is a $300 million proposal, the Rivers Casino, on a 60-acre waterfront site in Schenectady, west of Albany, the third successful application calls for a $425 million development, Lago Resort & Casino, complete with thousands of slot machines, a 1,700-seat theater and a 207-room hotel, in the Finger Lakes town of Tyre. Yet, none of the three can be said to face a certain future. In- state competition for the gambler from New York’s established tribal casino facilities and racinos is likely to be fierce. In addition, neighboring states are also in the midst of casino expansion to try to capture a larger share of the Northeast market. Case in point: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board recently awarded a license to The slot floor at Genting’s Resorts World New York City is the highest-grossing in the US.