It was 10 years ago this month that Encore Boston Harbor (formerly known as Wynn Resorts) filed its application with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to become the license holder for a casino-hotel complex in the Boston area on the site of the long-abandoned Monsanto brownfield site along the Mystic River .
Up to that point, the group that was eyeing Suffolk Downs for the hotel-casino complex was the odds-on favorite to win the lone license for Greater Boston.
But at the last minute, Mayor Carlo DeMaria and the team from Wynn submitted their bid — and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Encore Boston Harbor has been a huge success both for the company and for the city of Everett and Encore now is seeking to expand on that success with its proposal to develop what presently is about 13 acres of parking lots across Broadway from the current hotel-casino complex into a new development that will include two hotels with ballrooms with a combined 800 guestrooms, multiple restaurants, a 200-seat comedy club, a roof deck day club, a 980-seat theater, an indoor nightclub, a poker room, and a WynnBet Sportsbook.
Altogether, the project would entail 1.8 million square feet of indoor space. The new nightlife and gaming area would be connected to the main casino via a pedestrian bridge over Broadway. The expansion would also offer a parking garage on the east side of Broadway with roughly 2,100 parking spaces.
It is estimated that when the project is fully completed, it will bring $15 million in property and hotel taxes to city coffers, a huge boon for Everett taxpayers.
In addition, a Boston company, Big Night Entertainment Group, which is led by noted Boston restaurateur Ed Kane, will operate the restaurant and nightclub venues in the new complex (other than the betting parlors) that will generate hundreds of new jobs.
Encore’s proposal is a win-win-win proposition for our city — more taxes, more jobs, and construction of a beautiful complex on what is now just acres of asphalt parking — completing the vision of Mayor DeMaria, who against all odds (no pun intended!), brought this amazing complex to our city that has transformed Everett in countless ways for the benefit of generations to come.
We hope the Massachusetts Gaming Commission gives its speedy approval so that this incredible development can get underway as soon as possible.