Wynn Resorts wins license to build casino near Boston
(Adds deal spells end to Suffolk Downs horse racing track, background on casinos in northeastern U.S.)
By Scott Malone
BOSTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Tuesday awarded a license to build a $1.6 billion casino just outside Boston to Las Vegas developer Wynn Resorts Ltd.
Wynn, which aims to build a 27-story casino on the Mystic River in Everett, won a three to one commission vote over rival Mohegan Sun. It won the second of three resort-casino licenses allowed under a 2011 law legalizing casino gambling in the state.
"This has been a really, really difficult decision," James McHugh, one of the four commissioners, told reporters. "The two were very close together. The Wynn applicant had the edge in the economic benefits that it would provide to the community and the region."
Wynn has said that its 100,000-square foot (10,000-square meter) casino floor and 550-room hotel will employ about 4,000 people permanently. Officials said it could take three to four years to build the Everett casino, which will be located on the former site of a chemical factory.
The deal spells the end of the road for Boston's Suffolk Downs horse racing track, which was to adjoin Mohegan Sun's proposed casino and was counting on new visitors to boost its sagging fortunes.
"We will be meeting with employees and horsemen over the next several days to talk about how we wind down racing operations as a 79-year legacy of thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts will be coming to an end," said Chip Tuttle, the track's chief operating officer.
Mohegan Sun, owned by Connecticut's Mohegan tribe, operates a resort casino complex in that state that is one of the largest in the United States.
The commission previously granted the right to develop a casino in Springfield, along the state's Connecticut border, to MGM Resorts International, though the formal award has been put on hold until after voters decide in November on a ballot initiative that could repeal the casino law.
The commission has yet to rule on a third license, to operate a casino around the Cape Cod beach resort area.
The spread of casino gambling through the northeastern United States, where New York, Pennsylvania and Maine also feature casinos, has taken a heavy toll on New Jersey's Atlantic City, which has seen four casinos close his year, most recently the Trump Plaza, which closed its doors early Tuesday morning.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Grant McCool)
