For the foreseeable future, Silverstein Properties’ site on 41st Street and 11th Avenue will remain a “giant hole in the ground.”
A six-member Community Advisory Committee on Wednesday rejected the proposal, in a 4 to 2 vote. The decision means that Silverstein’s proposal will not move on to the final round of the state’s casino licensing competition.
The no vote followed the rejection of SL Green’s pitch for a casino, which elicited an emotional response from CEO Marc Holliday, who admonished the CAC and called the vote “despicable.” Six other proposals await votes by their respective CACs. Those approved will then be considered by the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board, which will ultimately award three casino licenses.
Silverstein, along with Rush Street Gaming and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, pitched the Avenir, a $7 billion casino complex planned for a long-vacant Midtown site. The project would have featured a 1,000-key Hyatt Hotel, as well as restaurants, bars and a 150-seat entertainment venue.
The developer also promised to fund the conversion of offices into 2,000 units of housing, in and around Community Board 4. The firm hasn’t named specific properties, but noted at its first public hearing last month that it had identified 92 feasible sites and was planning to evaluate another 146. Of course, the firm would have needed to acquire properties before moving forward with conversion plans.
The Silverstein and SL Green CAC votes were the first so far in the casino competition. Silverstein’s team asked the CAC to delay the vote on Wednesday morning, citing that the committee sent “a very significant request” late Tuesday night. Silverstein COO Dino Fusco said the request was to add $1 billion worth of more housing to its proposal. A member of the CAC indicated that this last-minute request came from City Hall, but it’s unclear if the administration believed such an offer would pressure the CAC to postpone the vote.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor said it was “a shame that today’s votes were rushed — leaving two weeks of negotiating on the table and limiting the opportunity for a fuller evaluation and community discussion.”
Silverstein indicated that because it was not given adequate time to consider the request, the vote should have been postponed. A spokesperson for the team said the late request “taints the CAC process.” Angel Vasquez, who was appointed to the CAC by Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Nabeela Malik, who was Mayor Eric Adams’ representative, agreed during the meeting that the vote should have been pushed to a later date.
The CAC, however, declined the request. Silverstein also proposed adding 200 units of housing, but the CAC rejected that amendment right before Wednesday’s vote.
Fusco told reporters that he was “shocked” by the proposal’s rejection. Leading up to Wednesday’s vote, Silverstein was adamant that absent a casino, building on the site would not be economically feasible. Fusco reiterated that the firm doesn’t have an alternative for the site.
“Right now, there is no plan to build anything on that site, and economically, I don’t think it’s viable to begin anything imminently,” he said.
During a press conference after the votes on Silverstein and SL Green’s proposals, Assembly member Tony Simone said he didn’t think the additional housing would have moved the needle.
“We already knew the result. We already knew where it was going,” he said. “We heard from the community. I don’t think it would have changed the outcome.”
In fact Wednesday’s votes largely followed expectations, based on how elected officials viewed casinos. Simone, whose appointee Matthew Tighe sat on both the SL Green and Silverstein CACs, made his opposition to the casinos clear. Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Sen. Liz Krueger, who both appointed Richard Gottfried to represent them on the Silverstein and SL Green proposals, respectively, were also vocal about their opposition.
Council member Erik Bottcher and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, whose appointees also voted against the two Manhattan proposals, opposed Related Companies’ plans for a Hudson Yards casino, which the developer abandoned in May, opting for a project anchored by an office tower, with up to 4,000 housing units. Simone invited the developers to follow Related’s lead and propose housing in the district.
“They can still propose more housing,” Simone said, then added at the urging of an attendee, “minus the casino.”
Read more
Development
New York
Silverstein makes last-minute housing addition to casino proposal
Politics
New York
Casino bidders decry slow environmental reviews, fear disqualification