The proposed $1.7 billion Wynn Everett casino has brought Wynn Resorts a lot of opposition and legal tussles that have stalled the process of the casino project repeatedly. However, Steve Wynn, the chairman of Wynn Resorts, is not letting these problems get the better of him as the veteran casino mogul called them minor irritants that will be overcome with time.
Robert DeSalvio, the Wynn Everett president, announced last week that construction will continue to be delayed after the city of Somerville filed an appeal against Wynn Everett’s environmental permit. DeSalvio stated that the environmental clean-up of the construction site has been stopped and they will also not proceed with their recruitment process.
However, this week Steve Wynn seemed a lot more positive, confirming that the Wynn Everett project will not be abandoned but instead get bigger and better. Wynn has decided to give the project a new name and stated that it will now be known as the Wynn Boston Harbor casino resort and confirmed that a ground breaking ceremony will take place on July 1st 2016. There have been a number of changes made to the initial design of the casino project which is now expected to open during the first part of 2019.
Wynn revealed a new model of his Boston Harbor casino and stated that its budget will now be over $2 billion. Wynn Resorts has already invested $300 million into the casino site which is located on the Mystic River waterfront and remain determined to overcome all opposition against the casino.
The most high profile battle was one where Mayor Marty Walsh and the city of Boston opposed Wynn Everett due to a number of reasons. The first lawsuit was based on the fact that the state gaming commission made exceptions to the licensing process in order to grant Wynn Resorts the Everett casino license. The second lawsuit alleged that the Wynn Everett casino would cause serious traffic issues and environmental concerns due to the location of their casino.
Wynn and Mayor Walsh worked out their differences earlier this year and those lawsuits were dropped. Steve Wynn recently stated that he and Mayor Walsh and are now on the same page and are happy to be neighbors. Wynn Resorts now has to deal with opposition from the city of Somerville and it’s Mayor Joseph Curtatone who has contested the environmental permit of the Wynn Boston Harbor casino.
Steve Wynn stated that he wasn’t sure why Mayor Joseph Curtatone was picking on the Everett casino proposal because they had nothing substantive that would prevent the casino for being constructed. Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria has fully backed the Wynn Boston Harbor casino and has asked the city of Somerville to stop legal proceedings and let the project continue without further delay.