Six companies enter reopened Aqueduct casino process

NEW YORK, New York -- Six entities have entered the restarted bidding process to operate a slot machine-only casino at New York Aqueduct Racetrack, but absent from the group was the winner of the previous aborted go-round.

The New York Lottery Division, which is overseeing the bidding process, released the names Wednesday.

Among the half-dozen initial letters of interests, which includes a $1 million refundable entry fee, was a joint submission from Empire City Casino-Yonkers Raceway and Genting New York LLC, an off-shoot of Malaysian-based casino operator Genting, which recently opened Resorts World Sentosa, one of two casinos in Singapore.

Penn National Gaming submitted a letter as did Delaware North, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based company that had partnered with Harrah's Entertainment last year. Manhattan's largest commercial landlord, SL Green, and the Saratoga Racetrack, also submitted their interest.

The sixth bidder was Toronto-based Clairvest Group, which was one of the partners in Aqueduct Entertainment Group, which won the bidding process earlier this year, only to have the deal rejected six weeks later.

Las Vegas-based Navegante Group, a casino management company headed by veteran gaming executive Larry Woolf, was in partnership with several New York companies that formed Aqueduct Entertainment.

Navegante beat out several gaming industry heavyweights for the Aqueduct deal during a contentious bidding process, including MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Penn National, Wynn Resorts Ltd. and the Florida-based Hard Rock Casinos.

Legislative leaders and New York Gov. David Paterson chose Navegante's consortium for the contract. However, Paterson pulled the deal off the table in March and said the process would begin anew.

This time, the winner of the bidding process will be chosen by a committee to be led by the lottery director and staffed by lottery workers and a representative of the state Division of Budget, the lottery said in a statement.

Next up in the process, bidders must attend a mandatory information conference on Tuesday. All proposals are due by June 29. Bidders are required to make a minimum $300 million upfront payment.

New York has been looking to add a casino component to Aqueduct, located in New York City's borough of Queens, since 2001. A deal with Delaware North fell apart in 2008 and the process was reopened.