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The Oneida Indian Nation made the expansion announcement that its Point Place Casino would undergo a major development. In the coming months, the casino plans to double its gaming floor and add a new hotel, restaurant, meeting areas and more.
The Oneidas’ announcement said that the expansion comes as a response to a six-year-old casino’s customers’ demand for more amenities and the expectations for economic growth throughout Central New York.
What will Oneida’s $50M New York casino investment include?
The Oneida Indian Nation will invest more than $50 million in the expansion, which will include:
A large-scale gaming floor
After the expansion, Point Place Casino’s gaming floor will double in size, giving guests more ways to enjoy playing their favorite games.
A brand-new hotel
The expansion will include a new, multi-story hotel with 100 guest rooms and eight luxurious suites. A Perfect Pour Cafe satellite location will be inside a lobby area and a spacious event area to accommodate meetings, celebrations, and other gatherings.
A new restaurant
A new restaurant will offer American grill-style fare, while popular dining venue The Burgers of Madison County will add breakfast service to its existing lunch and dinner menus.
The doubling in size of the Fireside Lounge bar
The Fireside Lounge will double in size with an expanded bar area, creating a 360-degree view of its wood-burning fireplace. New seating will offer guests a specialty cocktail, craft beer, or wine around the glowing fire.
Point Place’s first expansion since 2019 to bring 250 construction jobs
This is Point Place Casino’s first expansion since 2019. The tribal casino improved the size of its gaming area with an additional 100 slot machines, bringing the total to 600. The upcoming expansion will now double the existing gaming floor, offering the new amenities and opportunities needed to meet guests’ demands.
Located at 450 State Route 31 near the Onondaga County line, Point Place opened its doors in March 2018 as Oneidas’ third full-service casino. Oneida already operated the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona (Oneida County) and the YBR Casino in Chittenango, near the Madison-Onondaga county line.
Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation representative and Turning Stone Enterprises CEO said in a news release:
“Listening to our guests is one of the reasons the Oneida Indian Nation’s enterprises have been so successful. With constant requests for more of everything Point Place Casino offers since its opening, we knew this expansion was more than necessary.
Central New York continues to experience an extremely exciting period of unprecedented growth, we are committed to continuing historic investments like this in our enterprises and the region to sustain this level of economic success for generations to come.”
In addition to its investments in capital projects at Point Place Casino, construction related to the expansion project is estimated to create 250 construction jobs, as well as full-time and part-time contracts.
Town of Sullivan Supervisor Tom Daviau added:
“The expansion of Point Place Casino is welcome news for the Town of Sullivan. The Oneida Indian Nation and the casino have been valued partners for our community, and this major expansion will help attract more tourists to Sullivan while generating critical economic investment to support our growth into the future.”
New York still going through downstate casino applications
Almost two years ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off on awarding three downstate New York Casino licenses for commercial gaming venues. As announced, the New York State Gaming Commission was to grant those licenses by the end of 2023 or early 2024.
However, due to a lengthy process of answering the questions of interested parties, New York may not hand out the licenses until 2025 at the earliest. With required community approvals and zoning changes, the process could even be prolonged to 2026.
Meanwhile, the New York state senator Joe Addabbo is doing all he can to bring regulated New York online casinos to the state. He recently added a $25 million annual fund to his online casino legislation (SB 8185) to support casino workers and reduce cannibalization concerns.
To follow the progress of New York online casinos and see where other states stand, follow our 2024 online casino bill tracker.
