The Everett Arena? The Everett boutique arts district? The Everett hotel-a-palooza? It could happen right across the street from Encore Boston Harbor someday, company executives mused Tuesday on a call with investors.
Matt Maddox, the chief executive at parent company Wynn Resorts Ltd., discussed a host of ideas for how the gaming giant might use nearly 12 acres it has acquired across the street from the $2.6 billion resort hotel and casino in a once-desolate stretch of Everett on Route 99.
“We are talking to various potential partners because I think joint ventures could really work on that 11 acres for additional hotels . . . and other entertainment offerings,” he said on a quarterly earnings call.
Advertisement
“We’ve been approached by people that would like to think about putting an arena there for various events,” Maddox said. “We’ve been approached by people that like to do the outdoor districts that have lots of various entertainment aspects, but on a more boutique level.”
Maddox said the company is evaluating various proposals, isn’t in a rush, but thinks a broader entertainment district will add to casino revenues over the long term.
His comments offer a new window into the company’s would-be grand plans for the undeveloped land, which it has quietly bought up over the years. Maddox has previously said the company’s idea “is to continue to redevelop this area so that it’s known as the entertainment district in the Northeast.”
His remarks echo Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s vision for the area, which includes a pedestrian bridge across the Mystic River to Assembly Row in Somerville.
In June, DeMaria told the Globe he hoped the next phase for the area near Encore would include lots of hotel rooms, funky outdoor spaces, little cafes, breweries, displays from artists — a place where a family could spend an afternoon (perhaps with one parent ducking into the casino).
Advertisement
Still, on Tuesday, Maddox offered a dose of Boston-area reality when it comes to a timeline.
“The planning and permitting process does take quite a long time in Massachusetts,” he said with — was that a hint of exasperation in his voice?
For benchmarking purposes: The act legalizing casino gaming in the state was signed into law on Nov. 22, 2011; Encore Boston Harbor, the state’s first casino in the lucrative Boston area, didn’t open until late June, seven years and seven months later.
On the conference call, executives didn’t offer much in the way of details on early Encore revenues, other than to say that table games are performing well. Maddox said Encore is working on offers and promotions “to really understand the highly competitive slot market in the Northeast.”
Massachusetts has two other casinos: MGM Springfield and slots parlor Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville. And there are plenty of gaming establishments nearby, from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut to Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.
Encore Boston Harbor, which has 671 hotel rooms, 143 table games, and 3,158 slot machines, pulled in $16.8 million in gambling revenue during its first week after opening June 23, according to figures released by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Revenue figures for July will become public later this month.
But it will likely take a year or more, specialists say, to get a true sense of how Wynn Resorts’s bet in Everett is paying out.
Advertisement
Joshua Miller can be reached at joshua.miller@globe.com.