Massachusetts Voters Approve $1.2 Billion Casino Plan for Wynn Resorts

Voters in the small town of Everett, Massachusetts, voted overwhelmingly Saturday to approve a referendum by Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn on a proposal to build a $1.2 billion resort casino on the site of a chemical plant. 온라인카지노

With 6,157 voters on the ballot, 86 percent voted in favor of the casino proposal in a binding referendum on the casino plan for the first time since the expanded gambling law was enacted.

“The voters of Everett have spoken clearly and firmly,” said Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, in a statement. “Voting enhances our enthusiasm and commitment to this wonderful project. We are grateful to the voters for their support and for making all our efforts easy.”

You must get approval from the state game board before you can build a project.

Wynn Resorts is pushing for one of its three game licenses to be awarded early next year. The company has proposed building Wyn Everett, a 550-room hotel and resort complex, on a 32-acre site that used to house the Monsanto Chemical Plant.

The agreement signed by Wynn Resorts with city officials required the gaming company to pay Everett $30 million in advance payments and more than $25 million a year when the casino opens.

In the agreement, Wynn Resorts also pledged to complete the multimillion-dollar clean-up of pollution on its site along the Mystic River. The Las Vegas-based company also promised Everett residents priority employment for more than 8,000 construction and permanent jobs.

“This is going to change Everett,” said David Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Mayor Carlo DeMaria, in a telephone interview. “When we started discussions with Wynn Resorts last November, we thought this project would fit in here and help us.”

Wynn Resorts chose Everett, a city of 42,101 residents just north of Boston, after withdrawing from a deal with The Kraft Group to build a $1 billion casino in Foxborough in December 2011.

The gaming company is facing fierce competition to obtain its sole gaming license in Boston from Suffolk Downs Racetrack in eastern Boston, which is affiliated with Caesars Entertainment. The third contender is the Crossroads Resort in Milford, Massachusetts, which works with Las Vegas-based Warner Gaming.

No organized group has formed against the casino plan. The Casino Act of 2011 allows up to three local resorts, which required voters to approve host community agreements through a binding referendum before a company could apply for a license.

Rodriguez declined to comment on the Suffolk Downs or Crossroads project.

“We’re focused on making this a success,” Rodriguez said. “The game board will have to make their evaluation later. Tonight, the Everetters sent a pretty clear message through their vote to approve the agreement.”