Vornado Realty Trust is poised to join town’s Great Casino Sweepstakes by rolling the dice in a gambling den near Madison Square Garden, The Post has learned.
Town’s second-largest industrial owner is considering bidding for a helpful casino license on the soon-to-be demolished site, Hotel Pennsylvania, a source near the situation told The Post.
The closed hotel – once home to luminaries from Harry Houdini to Fidel Castro – stands squarely inside Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed nine-block redevelopment across the “latest” Penn Station. Vornado is to construct five out of eight office areas, where among the buildings will be demolished and tenants evicted. The demolition of the hotel will be accomplished by the tip of the 12 months.
Vornado, which rarely responds to media inquiries, broke its silence a few possible casino deal when contacted by The Post.
“We’re exploring the potential of applying for a casino license [in the Penn Station area]but we haven’t any deal,” a Vornado spokesman said. “Our most vital criterion for any project is that it meets the economic development goals and provides transit and public improvements outlined within the state’s Master Project Plan.”
Vornado’s statement didn’t mention a partner, but a source confirmed that CEO Steven Roth is in talks with Midwestern gaming mogul Neil Gary Bluhm, managing director of Walton Street Capital, whose net value is estimated at $6 billion by Forbes.
In response to Forbes, Bluhm, 84, is the owner or partner of several prime Chicago industrial properties and casinos in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago and Schenectady, Recent York. He also owns shares within the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox and serves on the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Vornado will need to act fast if he desires to get in on the motion. Preliminary applications to the state’s Gaming Facility Board have to be submitted by February 3. Three casino licenses are expected to be issued in downstate locations, but just one in five boroughs – along with the choice to expand “racino” Resorts World in Queens.
If Vornado decides to go all-in within the casino bid, Roth will face, amongst others, archrival SL Green, town’s largest industrial owner, and Steve Ross’ affiliates.
SL Green partnered with Caesars Entertainment in Times Square; Affiliates and Wynn Resorts eye Hudson Yards; Solovyov’s group wants a location on First Avenue near the UN; The Hudson’s Bay Company hopes to determine a casino on Saks Fifth Avenue; Mets owner Steve Cohen may partner with Hard Rock at Willets Point in Queens; and Thor Equities gambles in Coney Island.
One other last-minute offer could come from Larry Silverstein, who will put the casino in his so-called Mercedes-Benz site on Eleventh Avenue, the source said.
Each bid will cost applicants $1 million. The state has not said when it will resolve the winner of the Big Apple.
A casino near Penn Station could change the chemistry of a neighborhood that Hochul and Vornado touted because the promised land for brand new, state-of-the-art offices. But Roth thwarted the state’s plan last month when he told investors the time was not right for a latest, greenfield development.
Roth’s spontaneous remarks are said to have stunned the Empire State Development agency, which is answerable for the project.
As reported by The Post, Hochul’s recent State of the Union speech made no mention of the ambitious, controversial project, which could cost $306 billion to finish over 20 years.
More surprisingly, it also didn’t appear within the governor’s 267-page program, “Achieving the Recent York Dream,” published together with her speech, which touted 147 “daring initiatives” for the state.