The Avenir New York City Casino Bid Unveils Restaurant Partners
Posted on: June 9, 2025, 12:18h.
Last updated on: June 9, 2025, 12:19h.
- The Avenir, a NYC casino bid, wants to become a culinary destination
- The casino bid comes from Silverstein Properties
- Eight casino bids are seeking the three downstate New York licenses
The Avenir, one of eight bids seeking a downstate New York casino license, today announced culinary partnerships should the project be greenlit later this year.
Backed by billionaire NYC real estate developer Larry Silverstein and his Silverstein Properties, the Avenir is a proposed multibillion-dollar development in Manhattan’s Midtown West. Silverstein, along with gaming and hospitality partners, Rush Street Gaming and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, today confirmed some of the culinary attractions the resort casino would bring to the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.
The Avenir, should it secure one of the licenses that cost $500 million for slots, table games, and sports betting, would bring Starr Restaurants and Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) eateries to the destination.
Union Square is best known for founding Shake Shack. The group is also behind some of NYC’s most acclaimed restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern and The Modern. Starr is celebrity chef Stephen Starr’s restaurant group, with the company recently announcing two new dining spots in Atlantic City at Ocean Casino Resort.
Dining Destination
Each casino bid is trying to diversify its amenities to make it best suited for a favorable vote from the New York Gaming Facility Location Board, which will determine the three winners by the end of the year. Along with touting community benefits such as thousands of new jobs, millions in annual local tax revenue, and the construction of permanently affordable housing units, the bids continue to stress that they’re more than just gambling halls.
The Avenir plans to become a prime destination for foodies.
Along with Starr and USHG, Avenir is aligning with local sommeliers and celebrated chefs, including Yannick Benjamin, Nancy Silverton, and Pim Techamuanvivit. A food hall on the resort’s sixth level would include venues from local restaurateurs with seating for 700.
Our interest is to expand the opportunity from entertainment to a journey’s end for destination cuisine traversing Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and America. We’re excited to offer superb options for all in a beautiful setting,” said Lisa Silverstein, chief executive officer of Silverstein Properties.
“The Avenir will be a culinary destination with something for everyone. There will be a curated dining experience from local chefs and restaurants to globally recognized names,” Silverstein added.
Celebrity Chefs
Restaurants from celebrity chefs are commonplace in Las Vegas and other major gaming markets. Such celebrity-led restaurants play a vital role in high-end luxury resorts.
JLL, a global commercial real estate consultancy, says the inclusion of celebrity chef restaurants boosts a resort’s brand image and generates publicity and press coverage (hence this article). But celebrity restaurants can also lead to increased resort demand, which in turn helps properties charge more for their hotel rooms.
Renowned chefs are capable of attracting guests specifically interested in experiencing their cuisine. In fact, a significant number of global travelers now prioritize dining experiences, even booking restaurant reservations before their flights,” JLL’s 2025 Hotel Restaurant Report read.
“Offering a prestige restaurant (i.e., one with a celebrity chef, James Beard award, or Michelin stars) can be very profitable to a hotel’s bottom line — but not merely from the restaurant profits alone. Hotels trade primarily in experience, and great restaurants are an essential ingredient of that experience, offering another means of adventure, discovery, and enjoyment. This is evidenced by high-end hotels with prestige restaurants enjoying a 6.7 percentage-point higher occupancy compared to similar hotels without such restaurants,” the JLL report added.
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