Wynn Resorts has bested Mohegan Sun for the lucrative Boston-area casino license.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted Tuesday afternoon to award the license to the Las Vegas casino giant for its proposed $1.6 billion resort casino on a former chemical plant in Everett. Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun had proposed $1.1 billion casino at the Suffolk Downs horse racing track in Revere.

The decision came after Wynn earlier Tuesday conceded to a number of significant changes the commission made on the plan, including re-designing its 27-story hotel tower and paying more toward plans to address traffic through Sullivan Square in Boston.

Commissioners, in their support of the Wynn project, noted that Wynn promised to offer higher salaries to casino workers and proposed spending more in hard construction costs than Mohegan Sun.

Because of Tuesday's vote, a Suffolk Downs official says horse racing will be coming to an end at the 79-year-old thoroughbred track as a result of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission's decision to award a casino license to Wynn Resorts.

Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer at Suffolk Downs, said in a statement that track officials will be meeting with employees and horesmen over the next several days to develop a plan for winding down racing operations.

Tuttle said Suffolk Down was ``extraordinarily disappointed'' with the decision.

 

More From WBSM-AM/AM 1420