I agree, it is the best that’s left. But compared to the other rejected proposals it’s still a big yawn to me. I’m just not excited either way by the whole thing anymore 
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SL Green isn’t completely giving up on Times Square casino
Marc Holliday said casino “isn’t completely dead” after committee rejected $5.4B bid
Marc Holliday isn’t giving up on the dream of a Times Square casino.
After an advisory committee rejected SL Green’s bid for a casino at 1515 Broadway a month ago, Holliday on Thursday said the company’s proposal “isn’t completely dead.”“The whole process and the outcome is unknown,” Holliday said on SL Green’s third quarter earnings call. “How many bidders will there be? How many licenses will be awarded? And whether, if any are held back, there will be another shot for casinos in Manhattan or otherwise to come into play.”
Holliday said that 1515 Broadway’s biggest tenant, Paramount Global, is in a stronger financial position after it was purchased by Skydance Media in August for $8.4 billion, though it was unclear what the company’s space needs would be.
He said one of the benefits of making the casino bid was that SL Green learned the building converts well to other uses, like entertainment or a hotel, and that the property has good financial flexibility with low debt.
“That’s a good scenario for us to look at all options,” he said.
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He’ll do everything to get that $20 million bonus from the board…
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This is one of the worse ones. Such a shame it’s got a slight chance of revival.
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I actually liked that one the most, but I can see what you mean nonetheless.
It’s not that I like the design so much. It’s that I hate the current outdated/brutalist-ish look of the current building. It’s basically the last block in the square to be updated, basically a large dead zone in the middle of the square. (I know people/NYers love to hate on Times Square, but I don’t).
I also understand that this particular proposal tried to cut back a bit on transit and pedestrian-oriented urbanism around their site. Not good and maybe they can make some larger concessions on that front if the proposal is some how brought back to life. But, more generally and overall… as the largest (and most unabashed) entertainment district in the city, I’ve always thought this is the perfect spot for a casino.
Even if a casino is no longer in the works here, I’d still be very happy if SL Green follows through with something else, alluded to in posted articles above: He said one of the benefits of making the casino bid was that SL Green learned the building converts well to other uses, like entertainment or a hotel, and that the property has good financial flexibility with low debt. “That’s a good scenario for us to look at all options,” he said.
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This I don’t disagree with as it’d be right at home with the other entertainment-oriented properties but overall the execution is poor and will further add to existing automobile-induced congestion.
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But anything entertainment-oriented that they put there or add at that site will lead to more congestion. Should we say no to any more entertainment sites in the Times Square area then in fear of more congestion?
Or do you think casinos are special in that they some how lead to more automobile congestion than other entertainment venues?
I think you’ve misread my concerns. This specific casino proposal explicitly removes a bus lane and sidewalk space to add more automobile space. The other proposals don’t.
The sidewalk space and other pedestrian amenities were added relatively recently after years of protest by residents, and this proposal is going to remove them to cater to car drivers and out-of-state guests. I doubt there’d be much concern or protest if there wasn’t a plan to remove the sidewalk space or bus lane, especially since this casino proposal has some of the best transit access and is in an area where it’d make sense to put a casino.
The “fear of more congestion” is irrelevant because other new entertainment sites, such as The Torch, which will have entertainment (the drop ride and observation deck), didn’t delete sidewalk space or bus lanes to accommodate cars. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some more tourist traffic, but nothing else has explicitly included de-pedestrianization as a part of their plans, something that is both short-sighted and backwards thinking.
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Ahh yess, I completely misread your previous post and thought you were against a casino in this spot wholesale. Yes I agree with you! If this proposal is revived they def need to cut that auto-oriented bullshit out.
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He burned all his bridges on the way out. He’s going to have to come to terms with the fact that his childish behavior means no bonus.
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A pre-development agreement was signed for Metropolitan Park. There were delays due to the USTA suing since they have an agreement where they get 3 weeks of priority access to.parking when the U.S. Open tennis games are in session and they alleged the Mayor was trying to interfere with it to get things going here. However, a deal wqs made and the USTA’s demands were met so things may finally start moving again.
The USTA issued a statement Monday afternoon welcoming news that the deal between Metropolitan Park and the city contained the “required language” to protect the association’s superiority clause.
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Get ready. Monday we will learn who gets the casino licenses.
While there are three choices, the board has jurisdiction to not award any if they really wanted to do so.
A pool of what was once 11 bidders has dwindled to three – but there’s no guarantee each of the survivors will get licenses because the five-member board doesn’t have to award any.
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As predicted, all three casinos were approved.
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Metropolitan Park is going to be so nice. I’m also glad since the rest of the 7 train is getting a major renovation Mets-Willets Point will get a much needed upgrade as well along with ADA accessibility.
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Bally’s license will result in a huge payday for the US chief executive and probably the first good news he’s heard in a long time.
It was my favorite bid. That area is gonna be so awesome.
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3 new casinos. 5,000 new hotel rooms for New York City.
This rocks.
Build, build, build.
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Maybe it was a blessing we didn’t get a Manhattan license. More tourism to Bronx+Queens is a great thing.
Does anyone know if Resorts World paying for a renovation of the A train station? If they’re able to expand it to add a southbound platform, I’ll be quite excited for it.
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Yes this was my main attitude about it. Decentralize Manhattan. Build stuff in the outer boroughs. It’s better to have multiple CBDs and major nodes of development outside of the city for both housing and transit purposes. The Metropolitan Park one is pretty much Flushing West.
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