Genting fails to bag second New York casino licence

PETALING JAYA: Genting Malaysia Bhd failed to make the cut for a much sought after second commercial casino license in New York despite submitting two proposals, after the New York Gaming Facility Location Board decided against awarding a gaming facility license in the Orange or Dutchess Counties.
Both of the Genting group's proposals were for the Orange County area.
A report on the Gaming Facility Board's Selections published on the New York Gaming Commission's website noted that while the board recognizes that an Orange County casino could generate substantial revenues as a result of proximity to New York City, review of other scenarios found any additional facility in Orange County or a second facility in Sullivan County could destabilize the health of a single project in the traditional Catskills area.
"Therefore, the board has determined not to recommend the award of a license to any proposal in Orange County or a second facility in the Catskills counties. The board notes that certain proposals in Orange County had attractive features including strong casino operators, established loyalty programs and supplemental license fees but also had weaknesses, including (depending on the applicant) local opposition, environmental concerns with proposed sites that threatened to delay their speed to market, traffic issues, and uncertainties about the financial condition of the sponsor and/or proposed financing package," it said.
The board also opined that because of the proximity of all the Orange County proposals to New York City, it resulted in a high level of cannibalization of existing downstate gaming facilities.
The group told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that it was not one of three destination gaming resorts chosen by the New York Gaming Facility Location Board on Wednesday (New York time).
According to the Associated Press, Genting had put forward two bids for casinos; US$830 million Resorts World Hudson, off Interstate 84 in Montgomery and US$1.5 billion Sterling Forest Resort in Tuxedo, Orange County, just 35 miles from the George Washington Bridge.
Sterling Forest was the largest of the 16 proposals received by the New York Gaming Facility Location Board, while the Resorts World Hudson proposal by Genting, was in case the sitting board decided to place a casino closer to a distressed area.
The three selected were: US$1.1 billion and less Montreign Resort Casino in the town of Thompson, by Empire Resorts; US$300 million Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbor, Schenectady County, by Capital Region Gaming and; US$425 million Lago Resort & Casino, Seneca County, by Wilmorite.