Saks Fifth Avenue is feeling lucky.
The iconic New York City department store, which opened its doors on September 15, 1924, is looking to get into the casino business.
Hudson’s Bay Company, which owns the Saks Fifth Avenue department store chain, said it would make an offer with the state to convert the top three floors of its flagship store in Midtown Manhattan into a Monte Carlo-style casino, according to the new york times.
Beginning on the ninth floor of the luxury department store, the project will cover approximately 200,000 square feet, including a new lobby with a separate red-carpeted entrance to the casino.
New York voters first approved the legalization of Las Vegas-style casinos in the state in 2013.
In April, the state of New York authorized up to three casino licenses for southern New York state, which includes New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County.
The state gaming commission issued its request for applications (RFA) for three available licenses on January 4. The New York Gaming Facility Location Board has a February 3 deadline to collect the first set of responses from the RFA.
Long list of competitors
Hudson Bay will compete with the likes of Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets, and Related Companies, the developer behind the Hudson Yards real estate development.
The list also includes a partnership between Thor Equities and other companies to build a casino on Coney Island in Brooklyn; and an SL Green partnership with caesars Entertainment and others to convert a Times Square skyscraper into a casino.
In-person sports betting became legal in New York state in 2019, while online sports betting became legal in the Empire State in January 2022.
Online sports betting in New York set industry benchmarks in its first year, with 12-month handling of $16.2 billion, total gaming gross revenue of $1.36 billion, and tax revenue of a total of $693 million, according to Sports Legal Report.
The Saks Fifth Avenue Building was planned in the early 20th century by Horace Saks, head of Saks & Company, which then had a flagship store in Herald Square.
The building was built between 1922 and 1924 as “Saks-Fifth Avenue”, a joint venture between Saks and his cousin Bernard Gimbel. Later, Saks Fifth Avenue became a department store chain in its own right, with the Fifth Avenue store becoming a flagship location.
Across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral
The building is also located across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Social media reaction to the idea leaned toward the negative.
One person tweeted a video clip of Staler and Waldorf, the cranky audience members of “The Muppet Show” cracking up.
“Saks Fifth Avenue wants to turn its flagship store downtown, next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, into a casino. Excuse me?” the tweet said.
“Great”, a person tweeted. “Gamers can walk across the street to St Patrick’s to pray for winning the jackpot or to console themselves after losing everything. New York is an amazing city.”
“I thought all the casinos were on Wall St,” another person saying.
“Give teachers a raise? Naaaah. Build casinos? Oh hell yeah!” another tweet read,
But one person seemed excited about the casino conversion.
“Can you imagine a fabulous movie from the 1930s or 1940s where Nick and Nora Charles or the showgirls from ’42nd Street’ stop at Saks Casino…” the tweet. read.
