Encore Boston Harbor remains a good bet
Here in Everett, we are watching a transformation along our waterfront. On a long desolate and polluted site, there is now a nearly completed 27-story bronze glass tower. This $2.6 billion five-star resort will open in less than a year, revitalizing a neighborhood, generating thousands of jobs and bringing new revenues into our communities. The Encore Boston Harbor project is a game changer for us.
In recent months, as controversy erupted over the sexual assault allegations against Steve Wynn, we have watched the company do everything right in response. Wynn Resorts appointed a new CEO, changed senior staff, added three women to the board as former members resigned, reviewed the company’s operating protocols, changed its name here, and worked closely with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on its suitability review. Here in Massachusetts, the Encore Boston Harbor team is known as an exceptional group of highly regarded professionals who have been true partners to the city at every turn in the development process.
The company has continued to build a world-class facility with close to 1,600 construction workers onsite each day, opened a career resource center in City Hall to make sure Everett residents have access to job opportunities, and built a Harborwalk complete with shoreline restoration to open access to the waterfront for the first time in generations.
From the beginning, I have had confidence that a resort casino operated by Wynn Resorts would be an asset to this community, and our residents have felt the same way — 87 percent voted to approve the host community agreement we negotiated with this company.
In June, a poll showed that a plurality of Massachusetts voters thought the company should retain its license. Those who disagreed — 38 percent — track with the same percentage of Massachusetts voters who oppose gambling in general.
A multinational company is clearly more than any one individual, and here is what must not get lost in this conversation: Everett chose to do business with this company, and this company alone, based on their exceptionally high standards for development and operations; role as employer of choice amongst those in the hospitality industry; and true commitment to revitalizing a big piece of our city. In a highly competitive licensing process, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission noted their unique potential to draw international tourists and generate significant spinoff economic development. Each of these things is true, and the economic future of our city is interwoven with this company’s success here.
I have no doubt that the Encore Boston Harbor resort, when it opens, will be operated in strict compliance with every regulatory requirement and meet the highest of standards as an employer. It will remain an excellent corporate citizen of the Commonwealth, and I look forward to seeing this development fulfill its potential as an economic engine for the region.