Steve Wynn: From ultimate Vegas insider to outsider in Boston

By J.D. Morris

Monday, Aug. 24, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Steve Wynn earned widespread respect in Las Vegas for creating some of the Strip’s most successful resorts, but his plans to expand his business to the East Coast have encountered serious resistance there.

Wynn Resorts last fall won approval from Massachusetts gaming regulators to build a casino on the site of a former chemical plant in Everett, near Boston. If built, it would be Wynn Resorts’ only U.S. casino outside Las Vegas. (The company also operates in Macau.)

Although the $1.7 billion project already survived a failed ballot initiative to ban casinos in the state, numerous other obstacles remain.

Boston and two nearby cities, Revere and Somerville, filed separate lawsuits challenging regulators’ decision to give Wynn the only casino license for eastern Massachusetts. Boston’s objections to the project have been particularly intense; some elected officials there believe the Massachusetts Gaming Commission unfairly favored Wynn during his application for the casino license.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh has said he wanted his city to receive “host community” status so residents of the Charlestown neighborhood could vote on the casino. Walsh argues that Charlestown, which is close to Wynn’s property, stands to be affected negatively by increased traffic when the casino opens. Walsh has vowed not to back down from the fight, saying “the people of Charlestown deserve a vote on their casino.”

Boston officials also raised concerns about alleged attempts to hide a convicted felon’s financial interest in the land where Wynn wants to build the casino. Wynn Resorts has said it knew nothing of the felon’s interest until the gaming commission told the company about it, and Wynn Resorts threatened to sue Walsh for defamation, barring an apology for his “false statements and untrue innuendo.”

Wynn said during a company conference call in July he hoped to be “treated with a little softer hand” in Massachusetts and noted Wynn Resorts was bringing the largest single private investment in the history of the state.

“The table seemed to be set; the welcome mat seemed to be out,” Wynn said. “We just haven’t found the welcome mat yet. But I’m an eternal optimist, and I’m hoping it’ll feel good when they stop hitting us.”

But the back-and-forth continued. Days after the call, Walsh said Wynn offered him a nine-figure payment to end their legal fight. Wynn denied such an offer was made.

In August, Wynn told the Boston Globe he had “had enough of Mayor Walsh,” who he said “has to get off his butt.” Walsh fired back, saying that if Wynn has had enough of him, “he’s had enough of the people of Boston” and “he better rethink as far as how he negotiates.”

Even if Wynn is able to resolve the issues with Boston, the company still has lots of work to do before it can open the casino, including cleaning up the former chemical plant site to make it suitable for development.