Resorts World NYC Holds Groundbreaking
on $5.5B Expansion
By Jordan Bradley
Resorts World New York City broke ground on the casino’s next phase of its $5.5 billion expansion on July 23.
The event was commemorated in a groundbreaking ceremony attended by representatives of Resorts World and its owner-operator, Malaysia-based Genting Group, and local neighborhood, city and state officials.
Resorts World NYC was one of three companies awarded a casino license last December allowing for operations of a full-fledged casino in New York City.
Since its opening in 2011, the property had been operating only electronic games, but with the new license, Resorts World NYC expanded in late April into a casino complete with dealers and table games. Officials added Blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette games at 240 tables throughout the property, and held a grand opening featuring Queens-native and famous rapper Nas on April 28.
The most recent late-July groundbreaking marked the initiation of the property’s second phase of expansion, which will transform the property into a larger casino and “a first-of-its-kind integrated resort,” according to officials.
Forthcoming developments on the site include an additional 400-room hotel tower adding to the existing Hyatt Regency; a sports and media complex named after sports commentator and former basketball player Kenny “The Jet” Smith, a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena, a 1,200-room Crockfords branded luxury hotel, a central plaza and a parking garage.
Officials say the groundbreaking puts Resorts World ahead of its proposed schedule.
“In less than 3 months after opening our doors as the first casino in New York City’s history, we are already moving towards a day when the city will have a first-of-its-kind integrated resort,” said Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Executive Chairman of the Genting Group. “Not only are we keeping every commitment we made in our proposal to the state, but we are running well ahead of schedule in starting to build outside of our existing building.”
Since opening table games at the casino, the Resorts World NYC has paid $170 million to the state in casino taxes, officials said. The property also added 1,400 more slot machines on July 21 and expects to expand with more table games by the end of the year.
Resorts World officials are promising the expansion will create 10,000 jobs and “add 2 million square feet of new gaming, entertainment, dining, retail, and convention space to the existing one-million-square-foot property.”
Queens officials tout the expansion as a win-win for Resorts World NYC and borough residents.
“In real time, we are leveling the playing field when it comes to prosperity and culture,” said Donovan Richards Jr., Queens borough president, about the groundbreaking. “It has been an honor to partner with Resorts World on bringing this community-centered expansion to life and I look forward to the ribbon cutting in the not-too-distant future.”
According to officials, Resorts World NYC currently employs around 2,500 employees, and more than half of them reside in Queens County. The expansion is expected to add somewhere between 500 to 2,700 jobs by the end of the summer, according to the New York Post.
“The excitement around this project hasn’t stopped since the day we submitted our bid,” said Robert DeSalvio, President, Genting Americas East. “It carried us through our licensing process and through the first 12 weeks of operating New York City’s first live table games. Today, that same excitement is present as we break ground on Phase Two, which will bring new infrastructure, new parking, and the next wave of hotel rooms that will support two million square feet of new gaming, entertainment, and hospitality space in the years ahead.”
Prior to Resorts World’s late April expansion, the closest Vegas-style casinos to New York City were located in upstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The New York State Gaming Commission awarded the remaining two licenses to Bally’s Bronx and Hard Rock’s Queens proposals. As new complexes, Bally’s and Hard Rock’s casinos resorts will take years to build, leaving Resorts World, with its existing operation, as the first and only commercial casino to operate in the city in its 400-year history.
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