Wynn NYC Casino Adds 2,500 Apartments in Effort to Improve Project’s Odds

Posted on: April 25, 2025, 12:00h. 

Last updated on: April 25, 2025, 02:16h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Wynn Resorts’ casino plan in New York City now includes 4,000 apartments
  • The proposed development previously included 1,500 apartments
  • Wynn New York City is one of nine bids for three available casino licenses

Wynn New York City, one of nine casino bids being prepared for the state’s downstate region, is sweetening its proposal with thousands of additional apartments in an attempt to win over community support and obtain critical zoning signoffs.

Wynn New York City Hudson Yards
An aerial view of the undeveloped Western Rail Yard where Wynn Resorts and the Related Companies hope to build a mixed-use development with an integrated resort casino at a cost of $12 billion. Wynn recently overhauled the plan to include 4,000 apartments. (Image: Wynn Resorts)

Just 48 hours after Las Vegas Sands abandoned its casino dreams on Long Island, Wynn, through a partnership with the Related Companies and Oxford Properties, announced that, if greenlit, the $12 billion Wynn NYC would result in approximately 4,000 new apartments in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards West neighborhood. Crain’s New York Business broke the news that the new Wynn NYC blueprint includes 4,000 apartments, up from the previously planned 1,500 units. At least 324 would be made “permanently affordable.”

The change does away with a formerly mentioned 1,400-foot office tower in favor of two residential towers with thousands of units.

Over the last few months, we met with the community and heard consistent calls to add more housing to Hudson Yards West, even as many acknowledge the unique financial hurdles of developing the site,” said Related CEO Jeff Blau. “We tried to think outside the box and identified a historically successful funding model that would allow us to increase the amount of housing at the site to up to 4,000 units, while still preserving the other critical benefits of the project.”

That funding model involves Related being afforded an $80 million annual payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) from the city to help the company controlled by billionaire Stephen Ross construct the $2 billion platform that would allow the mixed-use casino resort complex to be built above the Western Rail Yard. The $80 million yearly payment would be in instead of traditional property taxes assessed on each apartment. 

Wynn’s Odds Improve

The New York Gaming Facility Location Board has three downstate casino licenses to issue. The state agency is expected to decide which bids win the $500 million apiece gaming concessions by Dec. 1, 2025.

MGM Resorts and Genting, which respectively operate Empire City Casino in Yonkers and Resorts World New York City in Queens, two racinos that currently can only offer slot-like video lottery terminals and electronic table games, are considered the front-runners for two of the licenses. If true, that leaves seven bids from seven heavyweights of the gaming industry competing for a single concession.

Sands’ exit is a major victory for the remaining contenders, as the company is the world’s largest gaming operator in terms of market capitalization. Hard Rock’s bid with Steve Cohen, Wynn and Related Companies, and Caesars Entertainment and SL Green’s Times Square bid have presumably the best odds for the third slots, live-dealer table games, and sports betting permit.

Wynn and Related have faced opposition from local community members and Manhattan Community Board 14, which makes recommendations regarding land-use and zoning matters to the New York City Council on the Hudson Yards area’s behalf. Officials with the Wynn NYC project hope adding more apartments to the scheme will turn the public’s opinion in its favor and appease previously issued zoning requirements for the Western Rail Yard.

Wynn NYC Details 

Along with 4,000 apartments and a 5.6-acre public park designed by world-renowned landscape architects Sasaki, Wynn New York City would bring Manhattan a 1,500-room hotel and focus on “high-end clientele accustomed to the upscale Wynn experience.”

The Wynn NYC casino floor is set to measure 250K square feet but it has not yet specified how many slots and table games it would house.