Latest Bid For NYC Casino Includes Flying Car Pads, Crypto Trading Floor
Former casino analyst Jason Ader is pitching a plan for a $3B casino in New York City that would come with a host of futuristic features — like a flying car launch pad and events space.
Ader is also including space for the biggest cryptocurrency trading floor in the world and an esports arena as part of his bid for a New York casino license, Bloomberg reports. Ader is set to submit plans by Dec. 10, the deadline set by the New York State Gaming Commission for requests for three new casino licenses, and told the publication he wants the site to be in Manhattan.
“The goal is to have a differentiated but comprehensive approach to entertainment that goes beyond casino gaming with some pretty cool elements,” Ader told Bloomberg, adding that he plans to call his resort Mirai, which means "future" in Japanese.
The project could cost up to $3B, but a site hadn't yet been selected, Ader told Bloomberg.
He is bidding for the license via a new business he is forming in partnership with Japanese gambling company Universal Entertainment Corp., according to Bloomberg. A blank check company Ader formed would merge with the multibillion-dollar Okada Manila resort in the Philippines, which is owned by Universal, to form a new company that would own the New York casino.
New Yorkers across the state voted to allow seven “Las Vegas-style” casinos to be built in 2013. Four have already been built outside of the New York City metropolitan area, but the consideration of downstate proposals was delayed until 2023 to allow the upstate casinos the chance to flourish — although as of 2019, they hadn't yet lived up to expectations, The New York Times reported.
Developer L&L Holding Co. earlier this year was said to be considering submitting a proposal to build a casino in TSX Broadway, the $2.5B mixed-use project at 1568 Broadway. Vornado Realty Trust has also reportedly been exploring the idea of a casino in the Herald Square area of the city; CEO Steven Roth in April told shareholders that he expects licenses would go to Yonkers Raceway in Westchester and Aqueduct Raceway on Long Island, putting Manhattan squarely in line for the third.
