Boston Globe Wynn Casino
Wynn May Sell $2.6B Everett Casino To MGM - Somerville, MA - Wynn Resorts may sell Encore Boston Harbor to MGM after a $35 million fine over its handling of misconduct claims against Steve Wynn. Encore Boston Harbor continues the tradition of attracting the top chefs in the world to create best-in-class dining experiences in the most-celebrated city in the Northeast. We embrace the diverse array of produce and ingredients from New England and Atlantic waters by showcasing them on the menus of our most successful concepts from Wynn. Welcome to Encore Boston Harbor Resort. Luxury hotel rooms & suites, fine dining, casino, event center, shopping.
BOSTON — Suffolk Downs is betting it can hit the jackpot with a $1 billion lawsuit against casino mogul Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court Monday under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) by Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC, alleges Wynn Resorts lied in their application to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and concealed Wynn’s sexual misconduct to illegally secure a license for the Everett casino scheduled to open next summer.
Suffolk Downs, which also competed for the single casino license in Boston, said the Revere and East Boston racetrack would have prevailed over Wynn Resorts had there been an “honest competition.”
Instead, the lawsuit alleges, Wynn was granted a license to operate a casino on a toxic site loaded with levels of arsenic still so high, despite remediation, that a daycare center is not permitted on the grounds.
The suit claims Wynn purchased the parcel “from associates of La Cosa Nostra” and a friend of and former business partner of the chairman of the commission, Stephen Crosby.
The lawsuit also alleges Wynn submitted false statements to the Gaming Commission about the true ownership of the Everett site; threatened and committed extortion to suppress voter turnout in favor of Suffolk Downs as the preferred site; and made illegal campaign contributions in violation of the Gaming Act.
In addition, the suit said recent public disclosures have revealed how unfit the Wynn team is when Wynn and several of his associates were forced to resign or were fired when “Steve Wynn’s long and sordid history of inappropriate sexual conduct was finally disclosed, together with their pattern of concealment through lies, omissions and payoffs.”
While the lawsuit does not ask for specific monetary damages, Suffolk Downs estimates it to be more than $1 billion.
Wynn resigned as chairman and chief executive of Wynn Resorts in February, and the company renamed its casino Encore Boston Harbor after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against him. Wynn denies the allegations.
Wynn Resorts dismissed the suit in a statement Tuesday. They said the claims are frivolous and they will mount a vigorous defense.
In January, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission launched a review of Wynn Resorts’ suitability to hold its casino license following the sexual misconduct allegations against Steve Wynn. The probe is expected to be completed shortly.
In May, the commission agreed to a request that Wynn’s name be removed from the license in Massachusetts. Wynn’s lawyer argued his client no longer had a financial interest in or a business relationship with his former company following his resignation.
But the panel said it would continue investigating Wynn Resorts and its handling of the sexual misconduct allegations.
Material from theAssociated Press was used in this report.
The Encore Boston Harbor casino-resort opens at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 23, after years of planning, construction, and not a little controversy. Its official address is 1 Broadway in Everett.
Here is more on eastern Massachusetts’ largest recreational gambling hub by the numbers, according to Wynn Resorts, the Las Vegas-based company behind it.
Total square-footage. The entire property runs to 3 million square feet, including the casino, the hotel portion, the outdoor space, the grounds, etc.
Landscaping. The complex unfolds over 33 acres. There will be 800 trees more than 15 feet tall, 105,000 shrubs, and 61,000 flowers. There will be 115,000 square feet of patterned brick and 50,000 square feet of synthetic turf. A 44,000-gallon irrigation tank system will help water the landscaping via roof drainage.
Casino. It will be 210,000 square feet. There will be 3,158 slot machines, 143 table games, 88 poker tables, 231 table games total, and 60 high-limit slots, including two private rooms within the high-limit slots with three machines in each room.
Conference and meeting space. There will 50,000 square feet of it total, and include 10 breakout rooms and a 37,000-square-foot grand ballroom.
Boston Globe Wynn Casino Seating Chart
Spa. It will be 26,000 square feet, and include 17 treatment rooms, six stylist stations, two pedicure stations, four manicure tables, two makeup stations, four shampoo stations, and one barber station.
Hotel. There will be 671 guest rooms and suites. They will range in size from 650 square feet to 5,800 square feet. Wynn Resorts notes that the average size of a New England hotel room is 250 square feet. The thread count on the linen will be 507. The fitness center will be 3,648 square feet.
Restaurants and other eateries. The casino-resort will host 15 food and beverage options, including four independently owned places.
Shops. There will be five: Wynn Collection, Wynn Mens, Wynn Beauty, the Drugstore, and Watches of Switzerland.
Outdoor space. There will 26,000 square feet of it available to guests, hotel and otherwise.
Carousel. The casino-resort’s merry-go-round will have 10 horses, 83,000 flowers, and 11,000 jewels.
Ferries. What Wynn is calling the Encore Premium Harbor Shuttle is expected to take 28,393 trips per year via four vessels, ferrying riders from locations at the World Trade Center in the Seaport District and Long Wharf on the downtown Boston waterfront to the resort.
Employees. A small army of 5,500 is expected to service the Encore Boston Harbor.
Special mirror. The Encore Boston Harbor will include one mirror from the original Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas, which is now the site of Wynn Resorts’ flagship Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas.