Feb. 12–Casino mogul Steve Wynn says he's reached "happy terms" with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, his first public comments on a pact that fends off any more Hub interference in his $1.6 billion Everett casino plan.
Wynn said yesterday on an investors call — a platform he's used in the past to jab at Boston and bemoan the city's legal aggressions — that he sees an "enormous" opportunity in the metro area.
"We've come to happy terms with our neighbors in Boston, and that was a relief," Wynn said. "Now we're going to proceed with construction of this wonderful destination resort … and benefit, I hope, people throughout the region, and have a very exciting hotel to boot."
Environmental cleanup is underway on Wynn's Mystic River casino site, and construction is likely to start in April. Wynn told investors the project will likely be completed in the late fall of 2018.
The deal — which brought an end to lawsuits Boston filed against Wynn because it felt disenfranchised in the licensing process — commits $25 million over 10 years to fix traffic in Sullivan Square in Charlestown, as well as $11 million in short-term transportation fixes, $1 million to pay Boston's legal fees, and other commitments and benefits that could total $368 million over the life of the project.
Wynn said the Boston metro market presents an "enormous" opportunity because of how it can attract Asian tourists.
"It's the first time we've ever had a hotel that has nonstop (airline) service from every major capital in the world," Wynn said. "Hainan Airlines and Cathay Pacific fly nonstop from Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai to Boston. So does every other world capital, nonstop to Boston. And we're 12 minutes from Logan airport with our new hotel. So all of that sort of makes me feel confident and positive about our future prospects."
The Everett project is a key point of optimism for Wynn at a time the company is seeing consistent drops in revenue from Macau, which all gaming companies are seeing in the Chinese territory since June 2014.
Wynn said yesterday that revenue from Macau fell 27 percent in the latest quarter, to $555.7 million. Wynn said he remains bullish on his $4 billion Cotai hotel project's ability to stand out in the market, though the project has been prone to delays.
