Silverstein Properties announces partnership with Rush Street Gaming

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Silverstein Properties, a national real estate development, investment, and management firm, today announced its partnership with Rush Street Gaming to operate the Avenir, a planned mixed-use complex proposed for Manhattan’s Far West Side. Silverstein Properties is widely known for its civic leadership in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center and the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, where the company worked with dozens of elected officials, public agencies and community groups over two decades. Initially announced in June 2023, the Avenir is finalizing a revised design, which will be announced in the near future.

A national leader in destination casino development and operations, Rush Street has developed six destination casinos in the U.S. and Canada since its founding in 1998. The firm has significant experience in New York State, where it developed, owns, and operates Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady. Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady is part of Mohawk Harbor, a thriving mixed-use development in the Capital Region, on the site of a former long-closed locomotive plant. Rush Street will operate the Avenir, and complement Silverstein’s existing gaming partner, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, which will remain a partner, advisor, and investor on the project. Rush Street has been working with Silverstein Properties and Greenwood Gaming on the project for more than a year.

“We are excited to announce our partnership with Rush Street Gaming, as well as Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment to create a home-grown entertainment complex on Manhattan’s Far West Side,” said Lisa Silverstein, Chief Executive Officer of Silverstein Properties. “Each of our organizations is family-owned, multi-generational, and deeply committed to the neighborhoods in which we work and live. Our company has been part of the West Side for over 40 years, and we look forward to continuing to work together on a project that will bring much needed jobs, tax revenue, economic development, and affordable housing to the City and State.”

“We greatly admire what Silverstein Properties has accomplished in terms of developing important projects in New York City,” said Tim Drehkoff, Chief Executive Officer of Rush Street Gaming. “Our past projects in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Schenectady were each the first destination casinos in their respective cities, and we look forward to working with Silverstein, Greenwood and the Far West Side community on the Avenir.”

“We are excited to join forces with Silverstein Properties and Rush Street Gaming to create a gaming, leisure, and entertainment destination that will reflect the unique character and spirit of New York City, and attract visitors from all over the globe,” said Eric Hausler, Chief Executive Officer of Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment. “We are a company with deep roots in our communities. Over the past two years, we have enjoyed working with the Hell’s Kitchen, Hudson Yards, and Far West Side communities’ elected, civic, and labor leaders to create something that serves the neighborhood and its residents.”

The Avenir project site is located on 92,000 square feet of undeveloped land at 41st Street and 11th Avenue, just north of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. It is fully owned and controlled by Silverstein and is shovel-ready upon approval. The site is also free of complex logistical hurdles, such as land-use approvals, the need for residential or commercial displacement, and the need for subsidies from the government to construct a large support deck. The project will create 4,000 well-paid union construction jobs and more than 5,000 permanent union jobs with industry leading benefits. It will also generate billions of dollars in direct and indirect economic activity for the State and the City, as well as funding specifically for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Rush Street brings significant national destination casino development and operations experience to the Avenir. Long before the opening of each destination casino, Rush Street worked hand-in-hand with community stakeholders to set the stage for successful projects that the community could participate in. The company also brings deep development experience to the Avenir team. In recent decades, its founder and Chair Neil Bluhm led the development of Copley Place in Boston; Century City in Los Angeles; and 900 North Michigan in Chicago, which features a Four Seasons Hotel, among other high-profile projects.

Further, Rush Street has a longstanding history of supporting the communities in which it operates. Across its operating markets, Rush Street supports local nonprofit partners and various community groups through significant financial contributions and employees’ volunteer hours. Rush Street also has an established track record of partnering with minority- and women-owned suppliers and vendors as part of its properties’ Winning Through Diversity plans, spending millions annually with qualified MBE/WBE/DBE/VBE businesses.

Similarly, Silverstein Properties has been a major employer of union workers across its developments and operating buildings since its inception. Over the past six decades, the firm has created hundreds of thousands of union jobs for its office, residential, and hotel buildings, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. The company maintains the highest minority- and women-owned business participation in its projects and has hosted dozens of events to support the city’s unions, including career fairs and MWBE events to encourage students, women, veterans, and minorities to join the building trades.

Finally, Rush Street shares Silverstein’s commitment to innovative, sustainable development, having developed the first LEED Gold certified casino in the country, the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, IL. The Avenir will be built to the highest energy efficiency standards; will be all-electric with no fossil fuels on-site; built to the highest contemporary sustainability standards; and will include a number of environmentally friendly components including energy efficient building systems, high-recycled content and renewable construction materials.