The Masssachusetts Gaming Commission gave preliminary approval on Wednesday to a proposal by Encore Boston Harbor parent Wynn Resorts for the construction of an additional venue close to the existing casino that would house both the casino's sports book and a relocated poker room.
The preliminary approval, by a 4-1 vote in yesterday's MGG open meeting, followed Wynn's submission of a proposal last year for the expansion, which would be located across a service road from the existing casino and connected to it by a pedestrian bridge. However, the language used in the 2013 Everett, MA referendum that approved Encore Boston Harbor's contained an ambiguity in its description of the physical property to be used, which led, years later, to the current approval process.
In granting the approval, the four affirmative MGC members agreed with Wynn's take that the language in the 2013 was meant as a form of "shorthand", according to Boston's NBC10, which was meant to describe whatever land at the former Monsanto Chemical site, which spans beyond the boundaries of the existing Encore Boston Harbor plat. MGM member Brad Hill, one of Wednesday's affirmative votes, noted how the original impact fees owed to the City of Everett by the venue included clauses for increased payments in case of the venue's expansion from its originial footprint. The casino first opened for business in 2019, though its existing poker room has encountered additional operational difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Opposing the approval of the adjunct sports betting/poker facility was MGC member Eileen O'Brien. Her interpretation of the 2013 memorandum's language was that the casino's venue was fully defined therein, and did not allow for the construction of the add-on physical on the adjacent parcel of land.
By approving the expansion proposal via the enhanced interpretation of the 2013 referendum's language, the MGC hopes to sidestep a lengthy regulatory battle that might've ended with the casino needing a second gaming license for the adjunct facility, along with all the additional planning and regulatory steps that process would entail.
Barring additional hurdles, the Encore Boston Harbor expansion and the relocation of its poker room could be completed at some point in 2024.
Featured image source: Encore Boston Harbor
