Steve Cohen Sweetens Casino Plan With 450 Affordable Units

Steve Cohen is pulling out all the stops to secure a gaming license for his site next to Citi Field.

Cohen and Hard Rock International are partnering with Slate Property Group to tack 450 affordable housing units onto their casino plan for Queens, the Commercial Observer reported. Like the rest of the complex project, the proposed affordable housing component is tied to Cohen’s victory in the casino sweepstakes, in which he is vying for one of three gaming licenses.

“We are thrilled to bring our deep expertise in affordable housing to this collaboration,” Slate principal David Schwartz said in a statement.

The housing wouldn’t actually be built at the $8 billion Metropolitan Park site. Instead, it would be erected at a parking lot at 54-19 100th Street in Corona, two miles away and next to another affordable housing development.

The project would include community space, on-site parking, an outdoor area and a children’s playground. The income eligibility will range for the affordable housing, but the units would stay affordable for at least 60 years.

This is the second big move made by Cohen regarding his casino plan in the last few days.

Over the weekend, State Sen. John Liu announced that he would sponsor a parkland alienation bill for the proposed casino complex west of Citi Field, despite representing a minority of the acreage covered by the Metropolitan Park plan.

Cohen and Hard Rock have a binding agreement to fund $100 million in infrastructure upgrades to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The larger proposal includes a hotel, live music venue, food hall and 20 acres of public park space, but Cohen has said he won’t build any of the project without the coveted gaming license.

With less than three months to go until the deadline, bidders for the gaming licenses are finding more chips to push into the pot. The Soloviev Group and Mohegan recently announced the support of a coalition of 26 New York labor organizations and workforce development partners, including the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.

Applications for the three licenses are due near the end of June.

— Holden Walter-Warner