CAC Rejects SL Green Casino

After more than two years of vying for public support for its casino proposal, SL Green Realty is officially out of the running.

A Community Advisory Committee on Wednesday voted 4-2 to disapprove SL Green’s pitch for a $5.4 billion casino in Times Square. The vote means that the proposal will not move on to the final round of the state’s casino licensing competition.

Following the vote, SL Green CEO Marc Holliday asked if he could speak, but was told that the committee was not hearing public comments. Once the meeting was over, he stood up and chastised the committee members, aside from those appointed by the mayor and governor, who were the sole yes votes.

“What you did here today was a despicable display of cowardice, lack of leadership, lack of consideration for all the people who would benefit from this proposal,” he said. “We met the standard, and then some.”

He then quickly exited the meeting.

After the vote, Assembly member Tony Simone, whose CAC appointee voted against the Times Square casino, said that he is not “not anti-development.”

“I’m for responsible development,” he said.

He explained his appointee voted against the proposal because the community overwhelmingly didn’t want it.

“I love Jay-Z and I love Beyoncé, but I serve the communities in the 75th District. I have to listen to my residents,” he said, referring to the involvement of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in SL Green’s project.

However, later he said that he is “not a fan” of casinos personally, noting that he had a grandfather who struggled with gambling. But he acknowledged that the city could ultimately see three casinos open and acknowledged that the projects come with some benefits.

“Look, it’s a shame we won’t get these community benefits. I like Marc Holliday. He’s a wealthy man, he can still give community benefits,” he said. “They’ve done a lot of good work.”

Richard Gottfried, who was appointed by Sen. Liz Krueger, also explained his “no” vote, pointing to concerns that the casino would hurt Broadway theaters and surrounding businesses, a point argued by one of the proposal’s most vocal opponents, the Broadway League.

“This was a vote to protect the magic of Broadway for the one hundred thousand New Yorkers who depend on it for their livelihoods, and for the tens of millions who come from around the world to experience it,” Jason Laks, president of the Broadway League, said in a statement. “A casino can go anywhere, but Broadway only lives here.”

The no votes mean one Manhattan proposal remains. A separate CAC rejected Silverstein Properties’ casino proposal on Monday.

The other Manhattan bid is Soloviev Group and Mohegan’s $11 billion Freedom Plaza on Manhattan’s East Side. The CAC tasked with reviewing that project is slated to vote on the proposal on Sept. 22. Five other bids also await CAC votes, which will determine if the projects head to the state Gaming Facility Location Board, which will award three casino licenses. The board is expected to do so by the end of the year.

SL Green, which teamed up with Caesars Entertainment, Roc Nation and Live Nation, proposed converting its 2 million-square-foot office building at 1515 Broadway into a casino, 992-key hotel, restaurants and an entertainment venue.

The team also committed to $250 million in community investments, as well as allowing investors with as little as $500 to acquire equity in the project.

SL Green’s odds were lowered by the casino approval process itself. Members of the CAC were appointed by elected officials, including Sen. Liz Krueger, who made clear that she did not support a casino in Manhattan. The project also faced fierce opposition from the Broadway League, an influential trade group that represents the city’s theater industry, which argued that a casino would siphon from rather than complement Times Square businesses and entertainment venues.

The CACs that reviewed the remaining proposals must vote on their respective projects by Sept. 30.

Ahead of this key vote, some teams have continued to add perks to their proposals in an effort to make their projects more competitive. At its second public hearing, Soloviev increased the number of affordable housing units it will build from 513 to 600.

In an interview last week, Soloviev CEO Michael Hershman told TRD that he was feeling positive about his teams chances in the casino competition. But he lamented that some people do not seem to understand the economics behind providing housing and perks such as a public park. A casino is needed to finance such benefits.

“Miracles don’t happen,” he said. “You have to have some means to cover the losses of the amenities that you are providing.”