Wynn on Mass. casino feud: ‘In a perverse way, it is a comedy’
Steve Wynn offered his latest take on the ongoing Everett casino saga Thursday.
Steve Wynn is licensed to open a casino in Everett, just over the Boston boundary, which has sparked a rivalry with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn couldn’t help but laugh in a call with investors Thursday when talking about his contentious effort to open a resort casino in Everett—and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s efforts to thwart it.
After a delay, Wynn received a key environmental approval from the state in August. Wynn Resorts tentatively plans to break ground on the $1.7 billion casino next spring and open in 2018. But the site is also at the center of two lawsuits meant to block it filed by Boston City Hall—one that a Suffolk Superior Court judge is considering dismissing, and a second filed days after the judge heard a motion for dismissal.
“We’re happy that we’re moving forward in Massachusetts, in spite of the friction created by the mayor and the administration in Boston, which for some reason is unwilling to accept the decision of the [Massachusetts Gaming Commission] gracefully and keeps trying to use various tactics to say that we are in Boston, not in Everett,’’ Wynn told investors, chuckling. “It may sound laughable at this point, and in a perverse way it is a comedy. But it did cause us delays, but happily they’re pretty much behind us now.’’
Walsh has long contended that the casino site is partially within Boston’s boundaries and that the city should be considered a host community. Walsh has also argued that the casino will worsen traffic at Sullivan Square, just shy of Boston’s border with Everett in the neighborhood of Charlestown.
The two sides have traded barbs for more than a year, but Walsh has met with Wynn representatives several times since late last spring. They had conveyed positive vibes in September about possibly reaching an accord, before the city filed the second suit.
Asked about the status of the discussions, mayoral spokeswoman Bonnie McGilpin said Walsh is “exploring all options to resolve this matter.’’
“This includes continuing productive conversations with Wynn officials around whether or not there is such an opportunity,’’ she said. “However, it is the city’s responsibility, and the mayor’s top priority, to fight to protect the rights of Boston’s residents and the neighborhood of Charlestown.’’
In the earnings call, Wynn largely focused on the trouble facing his overseas resorts in Macau, the second of which is scheduled to open next spring. A crackdown on corruption in the casino-rich area has heavily impacted gambling revenues across Macau. Wynn complained that unclear government policies have made planning there a “mystical process.’’
Wynn’s revenue in Macau dropped in the third quarter by 37.9 percent compared to last year, the primary factor in a nearly 30 percent year-over-year quarterly revenue plummet, Wynn said. Wynn said business at the company’s Las Vegas property is “healthy,’’ attributing a 3.9 percent revenue decrease there to less international travel due to the issues in China.
It has been a tough year for the company overall. Its stock price has fallen from about $180 to about $70 since last October.
A Wynn spokesman previously told CommonWealth magazine that the struggle in Macau will not have an effect on the Massachusetts project. And Wynn said Thursday that “if anything, the problems of China are causing us to refocus our energies here in America even more intensely.’’
How the South Boston Waterfront has changed:
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