Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens wants to spend an estimated $400 million to add 1,000 video-lottery terminals and build a new hotel and convention complex.
The proposal includes adding a 400-room hotel, a 20,000-square-foot spa and resort, at least 140,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, plus additional room for food, retail and casino expansion.
The plan, which would expand the Resorts World Casino footprint at Aqueduct by an estimated 750,000 square feet, was outlined June 27 to the New York state Franchise Oversight Board by Resorts World Casino President Ryan Eller.
If all goes to plan, Mr. Eller told the board, the complex would open in April 2019.
The additional video-lottery terminals would come on top of the 5,500 electronic gambling machines of varying types already at Resorts World.
A spokesman for Resorts World said the expansion would be built on the west side of the existing casino, a space now covered by a parking lot.
Aspects of the project require approval from the Franchise Oversight Board, which represents the state of New York in real-estate developments that involve the Aqueduct and Belmont racetracks, and from the New York state Gaming Commission.
The proposed venture at Aqueduct is rooted in a move this spring by lawmakers to include a budget line letting Resorts World Casino host 1,000 video-lottery machines that were originally to be installed at a proposed gambling parlor in Nassau County.
A plan that would have allowed the terminals at sites operated by the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. fell through in 2015. The wagering and simulcasting organization has since sought a new location for the gambling machines while retaining some of the revenue.
Officials from Nassau OTB didn’t return phone messages Tuesday seeking comment.
The agreement to allow Resorts World Casino to host the machines came together as part of a “weirdly complicated” part of the state budget, said Bennett Liebman, interim director for Albany Law School’s Government Law Center.
The deal solves two problems, Mr. Liebman said. The casino, which is operated by Malaysia-based Genting Group, avoids gambling competition in a nearby county. And Nassau OTB, which has faced financial troubles, avoids having to operate an additional gambling facility.
Part of the revenue from the new video-lottery terminals will go to Nassau County, said a spokesman for Norma Gonsalves, presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature.
The Long Island county expects to receive at least $9 million in returns from the new machines in the first year of operation, said the spokesman. In each of the following years, he said, Nassau County could get up to $25 million.
Other portions of the revenue from the new video-lottery gambling machines would go to the state education fund and to support horse racing and breeding.
It is unclear how many additional dollars will go toward the state education and racing funds, but the spokesman for Resorts World said company modeling shows there will be net gains.
Robert Williams, executive director for the New York Gaming Commission and chair of the Franchise Oversight Board, said Tuesday that the development was expected to increase gambling-machine revenue “and therefore maintain or exceed current contribution levels to further support New York’s important horse-racing industry.”
In the less than five years since the Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct opened, it has generated $1.5 billion toward the state’s education fund, said Michael Levoff, Genting senior vice president of public affairs.
“This new expansion, and its corresponding increase in visitation to our facility, will result in a boost in revenue for both New York’s education fund and the state’s horse-racing industry,” he said. The new project could also bring an additional 1,500 permanent jobs to the area, Mr. Levoff added.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz hadn’t yet reviewed the project proposal, but a spokeswoman in her office said, “Anything that comes to this property should be to the direct benefit of Queens residents in the form of good jobs and economic growth.”
Still, there are concerns. In New York, video-lottery machine revenue at racetracks is customarily funneled to the state’s education fund, the horse-racing industry and the casino company. In this case, Nassau also will get a cut.
“Is it above board? Yes. Is the public policy involved questionable? Yes,” Mr. Liebman said. “You’re taking some revenue away from what might otherwise go to the racing industry and also you’re taking, to a certain extent, some of that money that might have gone to education.”
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