In an interview after he addressed an employee meeting at the Atlantic City casino, Hard Rock chairperson Jim Allen said the company has lined up at least three potential sites in New York for a casino, although he would not identify them. But he did say the soon-to-open 446-room Hard Rock Hotel New York would not be one of them.
“You have to have a footprint of real estate large enough to take advantage of the size of the market. We’re extremely proud of our hotel on 48th Street, but its footprint is just not large enough for gaming,” Allen said.
“As far as other locations, really we’re waiting on the governor and the committee that’s going to be sending out the request for proposals to see what language is in the bill as to geographic locations that would be acceptable to the state,” he added.
Hard Rock holds a partial ownership stake in the Meadowlands racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City, and has proposed building a casino there — a plan that still remains viable, Allen said.
If Hard Rock is chosen to build a New York City casino just a few miles away, that would not necessarily mean it would scrap plans to build one at the Meadowlands as well, he said.
New Jersey's Constitution would have to be amended to allow casino gambling outside Atlantic City, and a referendum to allow it was resoundingly defeated by voters in 2016.
“I'm not saying we would drop a Meadowlands option. I think we have to look at all the different circumstances. There's certainly the ability to have more than one product in a geographic area, as we've done many times in our industry," Allen explained.
A New York casino will generate about US$2 billion in gambling revenue, he concluded.
Source: GMB / AP
