Gas wells make some landowners happy

Cappelli ups ante for resort at Concord site

By FRITZ MAYER

ROCK HILL, NY — With more than two decades as a developer, Louis Capelli has made many presentations in front of planning boards, bankers and other groups to sell his projects. On April 17, he made another one to a group of about 100 business people and community leaders at the Lodge in Rock Hill, and he was in fine form.

At one point, he told the crowd his plan for a new resort at the site of the old Concord Hotel could be successful because, “If you spend enough money, and if you have a good design and a good plan, they will come.”

In February, Capelli’s plan for the resort, which he dubbed Entertainment City, carried a price tag of $500 million, and could only be carried off if the state kicked in a bigger share of the take from the video gaming machines (VGM), which would be moved from the Mighty M Gaming in Monticello to the new location in Kiamesha Lake.

Now, the plan has ballooned. Capelli wants to spend $1 billion, and include such possible features as a boutique hotel and spa and a water park. To make the plan work, the state would have to agree to allow Cappelli, and his partner Resorts International, to keep a much higher percentage of the revenue from the VGMs.

At present, racinos in New York keep 32 percent of the revenue from VGMs, while the rest of the money goes to the state to pay for education. Capelli will ask the NYS legislature to allow Entertainment City to keep 75 percent of the revenue.

Why should lawmakers agree to this? Because the state is now getting $22 million per year from the Mighty M VGMs, but that figure is dwindling due to competition from other racinos in New York and Pennsylvania. Capelli’s proposition is that he will guarantee that the state gets at least double that amount, or $44 million, from the VGMs, in exchange for changing the revenue split between the state and facility. He said the interest and excitement created by a $1 billion facility would bring far greater numbers to the VGMs and thus far greater revenues to the state. He said the decision for the state should be a “no brainer.” However, it’s not clear how the owners of the other racinos in the state might react to the plan.

There will be horse racing and the VGMs at Entertainment City but no table games. Regardless, Capelli is seeking to draw the customers who go to full-fledged casinos in other states. He said he came to the decision that his facility would need to be even bigger and more spectacular than first envisioned after spending a weekend at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, PA, which has VGMs but no table games. It was nice, he said, but it would not “stand the test of time” because it could not compete with facilities such as the Mohegan Sun Casino Resort in Connecticut and other similar destination resorts.

Capelli said he planned to begin demolition of the Concord buildings on April 24.

After his presentation, assemblywoman Aileen Gunther told the crowd that there is interest in the project in Albany among lawmakers and members of the governor’s office.

During a question and answer period, a couple of concerns were raised about traffic, but this crowd was clearly supportive of the developer’s pitch.

To this point, Cappelli’s pitches to the public have been made in Monticello, Rock Hill and other spots in the middle of the county. But the developer is planning a possible visit to the western part of the county to engage in question-and-answer sessions here.

A spokesperson for Gunther said that the assemblywoman is helping to set up the engagement to possibly take place in the Tusten Town Hall and Capelli has indicated he supports the visit. The details haven’t been nailed down, but the visit may take place in the middle of May.