NYNY - Empire Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ Stock)
Bought in this morning @ 2.51 for a nice chunk. Looks good so far with room to run.
LATEST NEWS:
$700M Catskills Gaming Resort Proposed
Monday February 11, 4:17 pm ET
By Michael Gormley, Associated Press Writer
Developers Plan $700 Million Gaming Resort in Catskills
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Private developers announced plans Monday for a $700 million gaming complex as part of an "entertainment city" to be built in the Catskill Mountains, where lavish resorts were once world renowned.
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Empire Resorts says it has an agreement with Concord Associates to relocate the Monticello Gaming and Raceway -- which would include video slot machines with harness racing -- as part of the project at the historic Concord Hotel.
The project would include a gaming area, convention center, hotel, golf resort, retail stores, restaurants and other entertainment venues.
Construction on the 160-acre site is scheduled to begin this year, with an opening planned for 2010.
The resort would be 90 miles northwest of New York City.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Monday the project apparently needs approval only by the state Racing and Wagering Board, not the Legislature, where such major issues can face delays and opposition.
"I think it's an interesting proposal," said Silver, a lower Manhattan Democrat. "It may be productive for Sullivan County."
Silver's lack of opposition is significant for the project. He summers in the Catskills and is the Albany leader who has been most reluctant to expand gambling.
Developers predict the 1.5 million-square foot facility will more than double the $70 million Empire now pays the state each year from gambling revenue.
The gaming floor would be in the hotel and the harness track rebuilt to become a top racing facility, the developers said.
"The creation of thousands of jobs will permeate throughout the entire upstate economy and bring the former Concord Hotel back to its glory as one of the region's truly great convention, destination and resort hotels," said Louis R. Cappelli, managing member of Concord Associates.
Last week, the Mohawk tribe at the St. Regis reservation in northern New York said Empire was dropping the tribe from its plans for the site. Empire said then that it wasn't abandoning its work with the Mohawks, but was exploring other options.
State law already allows video slot machines in the "racino" at Monticello and other harness tracks, but the state constitution prohibits traditional slot machines and many other popular casino games unless they are owned by an Indian tribe.
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