Rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z has been a huge part of New York City for decades.
Shawn Carter grew up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, and he rose to power and fame telling the stories of his life through records. Now, through his massive, lucrative entertainment company, one of music’s biggest celebrities has centered his attention on changing one of New York’s most iconic districts forever.
Key Takeaways
- Jay-Z’s Roc Nation partnered with Caesars and SL Green to build a casino that will involve community businesses.
- The rapper said the project can “fulfill” Times Square’s promise.
- The developer group estimates a $250 million community benefit.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has partnered with major gaming and hotel operator Caesars Entertainment and real estate trust SL Green to bid on one of the coveted downstate New York casino licenses. The trio met with a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) on Wednesday to pitch its Caesars Palace Times Square (CPTS) project.
Jay-Z called Times Square the “perfect” location for this partnership group and told the CAC that he envisions enhancing Manhattan’s entertainment district, which he compared to Paris’ Eiffel Tower and other iconic landmarks around the globe.
"It's our chance to change the narrative and create something all around the world,” Jay-Z said during the presentation. “If we treat Times Square with the love and the attention that it requires, it can fulfill its promise.”
Major opportunity
CPTS is one of the more unique projects and the smallest in scope among the eight NYC bids. The development group said the plan is to turn an existing Broadway office building into a 1,000-room casino resort without many of the amenities other bidders are promising.
Instead, CPTS wants the gaming center on famed Broadway to embody and impact the community by partnering with local businesses to supplement many of the amenities that come with a resort. The development group estimates $250 billion in community benefits to Times Square and the surrounding neighborhoods.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I believe, to support something that’s homegrown,” Jay-Z said. “As we hear a lot of talk about community, we are the community. We’re from this community.”
The CPTS group proposes $7 billion in direct tax revenue and $26.7 billion in local economic activity over the first 10 years of operation. The rap mogul and his partners said they aren’t trying to make their casino project the main attraction in a part of the city that attracts more than 50 million tourists per year.
“We’re not coming to compete with Broadway,” Jay-Z said. “We’re coming to be additive. Anything that we’ve done in the past, we’ve always included the community. We’ve never excluded the community.”
Roc Nation’s impact
During the presentation, Roc Nation told the CAC that it has made social impacts worth more than $78 million, supporting more than 5 million people. The entertainment company has helped 24 charities and supported education and various communities.
Jay-Z said to the committee that whatever space Roc Nation takes on, it changes it culturally, using the example of having the first hip-hop artists to headline the NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.
SL Green CEO Marc Holliday said working with Roc Nation on the $5.4 billion project has been one of the “great joys and privileges” of his career.
“I can’t even describe how good a partner they are, how good a company they are, how much they’ve done for this city,” Holliday said to the CAC. “It’s truly something that, for people who work hard sometimes against tough odds to achieve great things, it takes that kind of tenacity and vision that you guys have. I could not ask for a better partner than (Roc Nation) and Caesars.”
Changing Broadway
Jay-Z said the group has spent four years listening to community members and finding ways to help through the project. CPTS says its casino will create more than 3,800 permanent jobs, mostly filled by New Yorkers, and more than 3,000 construction jobs.
The 150,000-square-foot gambling hall would generate a projected $23.2 billion in gross gaming revenue in its first 10 years. There will also be a Caesars Sportsbook, four restaurants associated with high-profile chefs, and a spa. Additionally, the project’s developers plan to renovate a Broadway theater.
CPTS says its project is backed by more than 200 organizations, including businesses, labor unions, civic groups, locals, Broadway workers, elected officials, and entertainment venues.
Next steps
CPTS faces stiff competition to land one of the three casino licenses. Resorts World, which presented its Queens project bid to the CAC on Monday, and MGM Resorts’ Empire City appear to be frontrunners, while Bally’s Bronx proposal has run into major issues. Billionaire and Mets owner Steve Cohen is trying to put a Queens casino and entertainment complex near the MLB team’s stadium.
The CAC for Caesars’ venture will hold multiple public hearings through Sept. 30, when they’ll vote whether or not to send the casino proposal to the New York Gaming Facility Location Board.
Approved applicants can then submit a tax rate to the board. Approvals will be made by Dec. 1 and licenses handed out by the end of the year.
