May 28–SARATOGA SPRINGS — When it comes to competing against the new casino planned for Schenectady, the owners of Saratoga Casino and Raceway aren’t pulling any punches.

At the groundbreaking for a $34 million hotel that has been planned for a decade, James Featherstonhaugh, one of the racino’s owners and a Schenectady native, said their upgraded facility would undoubtedly be able to compete head-to-head with the upcoming Schenectady casino. Besides a harness track, the racino has video gaming machines. The 123,000 square-foot hotel, which will include a high-end steak house, will be completed by Memorial Day 2016.

“This is a full-fledged casino, and people want to stay in Saratoga Springs and stay in a hotel,” Featherstonhaugh said. “What the demand for hotels in Schenectady, New York is, I don’t know. But we expect to compete hard and do extremely well.”

The project’s construction manager, a joint venture between Kirchoff-Consigli Construction Management and Tishman Construction, has signed a project labor agreement with local unions.

“That’s how we can be assured that they are good, middle-class jobs,” said Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner of Round Lake.

The project will employ as many as 500 construction workers and the new hotel will add between 200 and 300 new employees to the existing 400 full-time and 200 part-time employees at the racino.

Featherstonhaugh also said that despite the recent failure of casinos in Atlantic City and elsewhere, the Saratoga racino will be aided by the Cuomo administration’s plan to put the next three casinos downstate. Four of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos closed last year because of over-saturation of the gambling market.

Featherstonhaugh, whose group of investors failed to get their own casino license from the state, acknowledged there is only a certain amount of gaming revenue that will flow into upstate New York. But he believes that having only two in the Capital Region will be OK for now as long as other casinos are not approved for the region. He said Atlantic City went “overboard” with too many casinos.

“If you split (the gaming revenue) up 10 ways, that’s one thing,” Featherstonhaugh said. “But if you split it up just two ways, that’s another.”

Featherstonhaugh also said that the addition of the new convention center in Albany would likely help draw business to the racino and vice-versa.

“There’s a lot that can be done, not just in Saratoga, but in the community as a whole,” Featherstonhaugh said.

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