East Greenbush casino developers will tweak, resubmit request

PHOTOGRAPHER: Haley Viccaro

The Capital View Casino and Resort has withdrawn and is updating the application it previously submitted to the East Greenbush Town Board for development of a $300 million casino and hotel on Thompson Hill.

Saratoga Casino and Raceway and Churchill Downs of Kentucky, which are pitching the East Greenbush project, plan to resubmit the Planned Development District application to the board next month.

More than 50 people attended the Town Board’s meeting Wednesday evening. Several local residents took to the podium to express their negative opinions about a casino in the town.

Town Supervisor Keith Langley said due to a lack of information, the board could not vote on a resolution Wednesday, as originally planned on the agenda, to extend the application deadline to Aug. 20. The developers have yet to formally request an extension after withdrawing the application.

“We withdrew the PDD application so that we could provide the additional information requested by the town,” said Morgan Hook, a spokesman for Capital View Casino and Resort. “This will in no way negatively affect our bid and we look forward to continuing to work with them to bring jobs and revenue to East Greenbush and the Capital Region.”

During the meeting, Jeff Meyer, the attorney for Save East Greenbush — the group opposing placement of a casino in the town — requested that the board explain what details were missing from the original application. The board did not provide any answers.

Capital View Casino and Resort would include a 100,000-square-foot casino, 100-room hotel and 20,000 square feet of retail space at a site off exits 8 and 9 of Interstate 90. It will also have several restaurants, parking garages and ponds and gardens.

The East Greenbush site is one of five proposed casino sites in the Capital Region. Applications for a casino license were submitted to the state Gaming Commission on June 30, which will choose sites in the fall.