Caesars Palace Times Square Spreads the Wealth to Improve Casino Bid

^{Caesars Entertainment hopes a revised community funding plan will boost support for its casino proposal in the heart of Times Square. (Photo: Hemis / Alamy)}

The developers behind the Caesars Palace Times Square casino proposal have altered their plans for part of its community benefits package, moving millions earmarked for an affordable housing complex to a broader community fund.

Caesars Entertainment, SL Green, and Roc Nation made the announcement on Monday, shifting a planned $22.5 million and 0.5 percent of ongoing profits in perpetuity from Manhattan Plaza to the West Side Community Fund (WSCF).

Benefits Package Would Boost Budget for Community Fund

Those donations are part of a total of $250 million in community benefits the developers have promised if they win a casino license.

The new plan will see the WSCF overseeing a program that will determine how to spend the money from the casino’s community benefits, with residents, block associations, small businesses and other groups participating in the budgeting process.

The WSCF currently distributes awards to a variety of neighborhood organizations over two grant cycles each year, and has awarded over $1 million in grants in total – a total that would expand significantly if the Caesars Palace Times Square bid is successful. The WSCF would receive $1.5 million for 15 years, along with the continuing funding out of casino profits.

“We’ve heard from many members of the community, who support our objective but wanted assurances that it would be administered fairly and in a way that truly allowed all of the West Side community’s voice to be heard,” the developers said in a statement obtained by W42ST.com. “We believe that all development should generate benefits for the community.”

CACs Hold All the Cards for Casino Bids

The plan to direct millions to the Manhattan Plaza complex was revealed during a meeting of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for the project last month. And the decision to redirect the community funding may have been all about trying to win over the CAC.

Each New York City project has a CAC that is made up of six members appointed by various lawmakers, ranking from the Governor and Mayor down to local Assemblymembers and City Councilmembers. In order for the bid to advance and getting a chance to be approved for one of the three available downstate casino licenses, each proposal needs to earn a two-thirds affirmative vote from its CAC, meaning four votes from the six members.

While each CAC appears to have some clear casino supporters and detractors – at least based on the positions of the officials who appointed each member – there are also likely to be swing votes. And broadening the appeal of a casino to the surrounding community could be a way to bolster a project’s chances of winning local support, which in turn could influence some CAC members.

We might see a sign of how the decision to move money to the WCSF plays in the community as soon as this week. The CAC will hold a public hearing on Caesars Palace Times Square on Aug. 13, when the developers will make a presentation to the committee members followed by the acceptance of public comments.

The Caesars Palace Times Square bid is competing with seven other casino proposals for up to three available licenses. Some other major projects have also promised significant community benefits, including Metropolitan Park, which has promised more than 'link_text_goes_here','CC - News - US - Article','53003','','','','gtm-content-internal-links' billion in total benefits, and The Avenir, which has said it was targeting a benefit of $400 million over 20 years towards community programs.