A Vegas-style casino resort next-door to Boston appears inevitable now, thanks to an agreement between the city and developer Wynn Resorts. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has been fighting plans for the $1.7 billion, 3,000,000-square-foot, 24-story gambling hub in neighboring Everett, contending that its spillover effects on Boston, particularly Charlestown, would be detrimental to the city and the region. Now, due to the deal announced this week, Walsh is dropping that opposition, the last significant hurdle to the casino-resort's reality.
The city now gets an extra $6,000,000 on top of an earlier agreed-upon $25,000,000 for a long-term plan to alleviate traffic in Charlestown's Sullivan Square, according to Sean P. Murphy and Mark Arsenault at the Globe. Wynn will also pay Boston $750,000 in legal costs and other fees connected to the negotiations as well as a one-time $1,000,000 payment in general just because. Finally, the two sides agreed to talk about creating a public park, at Wynn's expense, on Boston land abutting the casino-resort site. Keep in mind, too, that these concessions to Boston are on top of ones that the Vegas outfit made to the state as well. As for Everett itself, that city has always been behind the Mystic River project, which is already under construction and set to open now in late 2018.
· Walsh, Wynn Strike Deal on Everett Casino [Globe]
· Our complete Wynn Everett coverage [Curbed Boston]
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