Long Island’s first and only (for now) New York casino is one step closer to a massive expansion.
Earlier this week, the Islandia Village Board gave Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel and its owner, Suffolk OTB, preliminary approval for a $200 million project.
The plan, first introduced last year, calls for a 110,000-square-foot expansion of the class II gambling facility to include an additional 1,000 video lottery terminals (VLTs). The capital expenditure also includes 227 hotel room renovations, new restaurants, a VIP lounge and pool renovations.
A public hearing and final site plan approval In August are still needed before work can begin. Suffolk OTB says the expansion could be open by 2025.
Jake’s 58 ready for $200 million expansion
Suffolk OTB is moving forward with the Jake’s 58 expansion project after announcing last year that it would not be in the running for one of three available class III gambling licenses in downstate NY.
The $500 million licensing fee and the minimum $500 million capital investment requirement for one of the licenses precluded Suffolk from applying, officials said.
Class III licensees in NY can offer “Las Vegas-style” table games and slot machines. Class II operators, such as Jake’s 58, are limited to VLTs and electronic table games. A VLT does not employ a random number generator like a standard slot machine found in Vegas or Atlantic City. Rather, the payouts are determined by a centralized lottery system across the network of machines.
On top of the addition of VLTs, restaurants and hotel rooms, Suffolk OTB will also install a 10-foot sound-absorbing wall stretching 800 feet between neighborhoods and the casino. This promise came as an answer to residents’ concerns about increased noise from the property.
NY casino competition coming to Long Island
Through the first six months of 2023, Jake’s 58 has reported more than $137 million from its gambling operations, according to data from the New York State Gaming Commission.
Those figures are a 9% increase over the $125.1 million through the same period in 2022. Last year, Jake’s 58 generated more than $252.5 million in revenue.
While Jake’s 58 is currently the only casino on Long Island, the Suffolk County resort may soon have some company. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is among the 11 applicants vying for a downstate NY casino license. The international gambling company has proposed a $5 billion project in Nassau County.
