Time for casino hopefuls to go all-in

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erin O’Neill

Five sites in the Capital Region are being proposed for a casino, but only one is expected to win the bet in the fall.

Share on Facebook

Save

Five sites in the Capital Region are being proposed for a casino, but only one is expected to win the bet in the fall.

Backers of projects totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in Montgomery, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Schoharie counties are looking to open the area’s first casino and resort destination.

On Monday they plan to submit their project applications to the state Gaming Commission. The commission’s Facility Location Board will then review the documents and choose a location for a casino.

Four casinos will be chosen for three upstate New York regions — the Capital Region, mid-Hudson Valley/Catskills region and the Southern Tier. One region will get two casino licenses.

Amsterdam

Name: Unknown

Who: Clairvest Group Inc. and Great Canadian Gaming Corp.

What: $250 million casino on 520 acres in town of Florida and city of Amsterdam off Exit 27 of Interstate 90

Features: 1,250 slot machines, 40 table games, 100-room hotel, 200 apartment units, two 18-hole golf courses, farmers market

Jobs: 450 construction jobs, 850 permanent jobs with $42,000 average annual salary. Projected to generate $4.7 million for Florida, $1 million for Amsterdam, $5.7 million for Montgomery County

Cobleskill

Name: Unknown

Who: Howe Caverns; developer and operator unknown

What: Proposed casino on 330-acre section of Howe Caverns

Features: Two hotels, dinosaur canyon, 50,000-square-foot water park

Jobs: Unknown

East Greenbush

Name: Capital View Casino & Resort

Who: James Featherstonaugh (minority owner of Saratoga Gaming and Raceway), with Churchill Downs Inc.

What: 100,000-square-foot casino on Thompson Hill off exits 8 and 9 of Interstate 90

Features: 150-room hotel, 20,000 square feet of retail space, two parking garages. Ponds and gardens, several restaurants

Jobs: 1,700 construction and permanent jobs, generating $24.1 million annually for region, $5.7 million each for town of East Greenbush and Rensselaer County

Rensselaer

Name: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Who: David Flaum of Rochester-based Flaum Management, with Hard Rock International, Global Gaming Solutions of the Chickasaw Nation and Capital Off-Track Betting Corp.

What: Project of unknown cost at de Laet’s Landing

Features: Hotel, Hard Rock Cafe

Jobs: Unknown

Schenectady

Name: Rivers Casino at Mohawk Harbor

Who: Galesi Group, with Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming

What: $300 million project on former Alco site

Features: 1,150 slot machines, 66 table games, 50,000-square-foot poker room. Two hotels with 275 rooms, 304 apartment units, banquet facility, retail stores. Three restaurants

Jobs: 1,000 construction jobs, 1,200 permanent jobs, generating $5.7 million each for city and county