By GREGORY ZELLER //
It’s taken years to create a viable expansion plan for the Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel – but insiders think it’s right on time.
With three downstate New York casino licenses still up for grabs – and one very likely to go to international hotelier Las Vegas Sands, which is planning a $5 billion hotel-casino in Uniondale – Hauppauge-based Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. broke ground this week on an elaborate expansion of its flagship Islandia property.
The $210 million expansion is no mere facelift. Suffolk OTB, which bought out previous Jake’s 58 owner Delaware North in 2021, plans to add some 110,000 square feet of new space and renovate more than 225,000 square feet in the existing facility, doubling the casino’s current number of betting terminals (to about 2,000) and more than tripling its existing 600 parking spaces – with a large convention center, a boutique gift shop, a sports bar and grill and other new amenities all on the drawing board.
Ed Romaine: Deeply invested.
Suffolk OTB Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jim LaCarrubba said during Monday’s groundbreaking that the ambitious escalation – the casino-hotel’s first expansion since it opened in 2017 – is “long overdue.”
“This has been a long time coming,” LaCarrubba noted. “The residents of Suffolk deserve it. Our staff deserves it. We want to provide a premium entertainment facility here and we’re going to do that.”
Expansion of the government-owned casino will not only increase Jake’s 58’s revenues – projected to jump 42 percent, to $388 million, in the first year after construction – it will pay huge dividends around the region, with the lion’s share of profits going to Suffolk County, the New York State Education Department and the Village of Islandia.
Islandia stands to see its annual cut of casino revenues double from its current haul of $2.25 million – enough to virtually eliminate property taxes for as many as 3,500 village homeowners.
LaCarrubba also predicted the creation of “800 highly skilled union jobs” during the two-year construction plan, with “125 to 150 new full-time permanent positions” to follow once the work is done.
Ground swell: Suffolk OTB President Phil Boyle (at the podium) presides over Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony.
“We’re very excited about what’s to come, about the opportunity not just for us but for our customers and the residents of Suffolk,” the COO said. “And we’re going to keep delivering those dollars.
“As a public-benefit corporation, we don’t keep anything,” he added. “Everything goes back … back to education, back to Suffolk County, back to the people.”
Besides those impressive job-creation benefits, Suffolk OTB President and CEO Phil Boyle – who thanked the residents of Islandia “for partnering with us” – referenced unprecedented spoils for the casino’s immediate neighbors, including the likelihood that thousands will see their village property taxes eliminated.
“[Islandia Mayor Allan Dorman] and the Village Board made a really good deal,” Boyle noted. “I believe, after this expansion, they will be paying no village taxes, which is unheard of.”
Win win: The new Jake’s 58 is expected to fill state and regional coffers with millions of dollars in additional annual revenue.
And even with “unheard of” tax breaks, hundreds of new gaming terminals, new hotel rooms, a new food court and other world-class amenities on the way, Boyle took a moment to trumpet the expansion of Jake’s 58’s parking situation – for now, an undersized lot crammed between the casino and the Long Island Expressway’s westbound service road.
It’s “one of the big problems we’ve had,” according to Suffolk OTB’s head honcho, but with a new parking garage in the works, that’s about to change.
“I’ve had people tell me they’ve circled the parking lot for 15 minutes, couldn’t find a spot and then they went home,” Boyle noted. “It’s never going to happen again.”
As for Suffolk County’s share of the expanded revenues, County Executive Ed Romaine was practically beaming about the socioeconomic implications, telling groundbreaking attendees, “We’re going to be reinvesting in our county, we’re going to be reinvesting in our infrastructure.”
Shovel ready: Dignitaries dig in at Monday’s ceremonial groundbreaking.
“We’re going to make our buildings better than they are, our roads … all of the things we need, we’re going to do,” Romaine said. “And it’s going to come without us having to raise taxes, because a casino is going to provide as a stream of revenue that’s going to allow us to do that.
“This is a great day for OTB,” the county executive added. “It’s a great day when we can go from 600 to 2,000 parking spots. It’s a great day when we can create good, high-paying union jobs. It’s a great day when a casino shares its money to help public education … and the County of Suffolk.”
With a year to go before Albany even issues those downstate casino licenses (and another year of construction to follow, at least, for whomever wins that high-stakes bidding war), Suffolk OTB has high hopes of completing its aggressive expansion – and strengthening customer loyalty – before the competition has dealt its first hand.
Suffolk County also took out a hefty loan – reported as $342 million, secured through a KeyBank bond – to pay for the growth plan. It’s going to be a busy and expensive couple of years, according to LaCarrubba, but in the end, everyone will win.
“What we’re doing here today, yeah, it’s going to cost a little money,” Suffolk OTB’s second-in-command said Monday. “But it’s going to pay back in spades for everybody.”
