Wynn Philadelphia: A waterfront resort
Steve Wynn wants to create a resort hotel on the Delaware River waterfront - that happens to have a casino.
Wynn Philadelphia: A waterfront resort
Jennifer Lin, Inquirer Staff Writer
Speaking uninterrupted for half hour, Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn sketched out his plan for a $900-million waterfront resort -- that happens to have a gaming hall.
When Pennsylvania legalized gaming, it wanted to create jobs, raise revenue and build tourism, Wynn said. The emphasis for Wynn Philadelphia, he told commissioners, will be on creating a destination casino for out-of-towners, as well as locals.
With a bit of showbiz, Wynn showed a video with a Sinatra soundtrack showing what the actual 900-square-foot suites in the 300-room resort would look like. At the end, the audience applauded.
Gaming in America – Las Vegas aside – is “homely,” Wynn said. “Riverboats and racinos have sprung up as places of convenience and they’ve ended up being boxes of slots.”
Among the highlights:
- Bringing customers by train. Wynn wants to use the Amtrak rail system to bring customers from Boston to Washington to Philadelphia.
- A 2,000-foot riverwalk, lots of landscaping and park-like grounds for the neighbors.
- Paying from cash out of Wynn Resort’s $2-billion cash reserve.
Wynn has an option to 70 acres on the Delaware River waterfront on Richmond Avenue from Schirra to Columbia. “To hell with concrete and steel,” Wynn said. “I like warm and fuzzy and for that I need landscaping.”
He said the driveways will be “coated with trees, restaurants surrounded by gardens and you can take your family and not get anywhere near a slot machine.”
Mr. Wynn's presentation sold me. I hope he wins the license.— Pugh- I like it too but the location is no man's land.— Nightman76
- better chance of seeing a superbowl win by the birds.... But hope it happens— fman727
- is there anywhere these presentation are posted?— Gradhospital
- @Nightman76: Exactly. Perfect spot. People who want to go there will go. People who don't want to be near there won't be.— azzuri
He's blowing smoke up ya'll butts' and telling ya what you wnat to hear, until he gets a license, that is.- Before today I had Wynn as one of the longshots at winning the last casino license. After hearing Mr. Wynn's presentation today I'm moving him to the front of the pack! His presentation was without charts, projections, big promises, and false hopes. He simply detailed his years of experience delivering high class experiences for his patrons. I overheard two executives who said that Wynn threw out his original presentation at lunch and quickly re-wrote the presentation made. I wasn't sure if I was listening to Steve Wynn or Dean Witter, as he had 100% complete control of the room. It was so quiet you could hear a bribe passed. It was the only time that I witnessed the entire panel of Casino Control Board members giving their undivided attention to a presenter. But at the end of the day I'm afraid that Mr. Wynn will not win the last license, for he lacks the local connections required to play ball in Philadelphia, and with all that he has going on, I doubt he will lose sleep on the failure. Because it won't be his failure, but the City of Philadelphia's failure.— dmcgoo
- @dmcgoo: Steve Wynn DOES have ties to Philadelphia; he is a UPenn grad! His presentation was genuine & excellent. The room was over capacity & A LOT of people still listened outside in the hallway. He will truly help this city of he gets the license.— PeanutPeanut
- @PeanutPeanut: Yes, Mr. Wynn did stress his UofP history and ties to the City. Unfortunately, it's not the connections needed to get the nod for the license and he knows that. He changed his presentation knowing that his only chance of swaying a majority of the casino Control Panel votes his way was to paint them a masterpiece of a visual impression of a world class resort only he can deliver. He used his love of art to deliver a verbal painting of a masterpiece resort.— dmcgoo
- Would someone come from Boston or DC for this? It's a little underwhelming to justify a 2 hour train ride.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Well the Wynn Las Vegas is fabulous and the country club there is nice too. The Wynn Golf Course is lovely too. He knows he stuff— jblack
- I think that its a perfect spot for development. Right now delaware avenue is just a barren wasteland in some sections. Alot of times you will see kids in four wheelers and dirt bikes racing in and out of traffic to get back there. Something needs to be done to breathe life back into that section.
10 or so years ago Delaware avenue was a place to be back then.— tinkerbell74
Parmley covers the Atlantic City and Pennsylvania gaming industry for business news, while Lin covers development issues in Philadelphia for the metropolitan staff.
