“The hotels, restaurants, events center, parking garage, and utilities do not enhance Encore’s gaming area by making the entire facility a more attractive destination,” he said. Starr’s PowerPoint insisted the proposed complex will be an island separate and apart from Encore Boston Harbor. “We do not believe this garage will be used primarily by visitors to Encore Boston Harbor,” she said. Jacqui Krum, the senior vice president and general counsel at Encore Boston Harbor, put a fine point on it. (That’s somewhat of a big deal because parking - and the notion of discouraging people from driving to the casino - was a key issue when Encore Boston Harbor was originally licensed.)

Starr said it was possible the parking garage could be retained by a Wynn affiliate, but he insisted the parking garage was there to serve the new complex and not the casino on the other side of the street. The idea, he said, was to have a Wynn affiliate build the new complex in phases and then lease the various elements out to other companies that would operate the hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venue. Tony Starr, a Mintz Levin lawyer who works for Wynn, said the east of Broadway complex would be owned by a new limited liability corporation with no direct ties to the casino on the other side of the street. He insisted it wasn’t a walkway allowing people to gain entrance directly into the casino, although it would appear to come close. In a presentation to the commission on February 10, officials from Wynn went out of their way to make it sound as if the casino and the proposed complex across the street had almost nothing to do with each other.Ĭhris Gordon, president of the development arm of Wynn Resorts, focused on how the bridge connecting the two properties would be open to the public, make it safer to cross Broadway, and improve traffic flow.

Wynn sidestepped that hurdle by lowering the size of its venue to no more than 999 seats, one less than the lower limit. The limitation was set long ago to prevent casinos from using their gambling proceeds to dominate the local entertainment market. At first, controversy arose over the size of the event venue, which was slated to have 1,800 seats - a problematic number because casinos are barred from opening venues with 1,000 to 3,500 seats.

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