Why Billionaire Stefan Soloviev Dreams of a Manhattan Casino Empire

Picture this: You've got one of America's top landowners, Stefan Soloviev, eyeing a chunk of Manhattan just south of the UN building that he can't touch. His dad built this massive 42-story tower that's like throwing shade across the street. It's a real piece of work, but after a bit of fiddling with the lock, Stefan steps onto a goldmine of undeveloped land. It's one of those last big empty spots in Manhattan. Now, if this 47-year-old has his way, he's gonna flip New York's script just like his late pops did. Sheldon Solow, the real estate tycoon, dropped out of college and hustled his way to a $4.4 billion fortune, building an empire of skyscrapers and apartments, including the iconic 9 West 57th Street. Stefan, on the other hand – and he's got his family's original Russian last name plastered all over him to kinda distance himself from his old man – has been busy building up farms and railroads in Kansas and Colorado. And guess what? The guy's sitting on over $2 billion now.

Stefan's back in the Big Apple, and boy, he's aiming for one of the shiniest prizes out there. New York's about to hand out three casino licenses to big-shot developers, and he wants in. Stefan's got this vision for his East River property he calls "Freedom Plaza." Think, a hotel with a thousand rooms, twin residential towers, an observation wheel, a soccer field, and a democracy museum that's gonna show off pieces of the Berlin Wall he's got lying around. And, of course, a casino – decked out with shops, eateries, and a concert spot. Word is, he's chatting with a major partner and is ready to throw down $3.2 billion into this baby.For more details on Stefan's ambitious project and the latest updates on the casino license race, click the up coming website.

"This is the hottest thing happening in New York right now," Stefan declares, standing on the old Con Edison power plant site his family snagged for a cool $600 million back in 2000. They tore down the old digs and cleaned up the land. "But hey, it's not just about gambling. It's an entertainment hub that'll draw crowds and become a city hotspot, gambling or not," he believes.

Now, don't go thinking Stefan's the next Donald Trump just because he's got ink on his arms and back and feels more at home in a freight train crossing the plains – he owns the Colorado Pacific Railroad, after all – than in a snazzy suit on Manhattan's streets.

Stefan grew up just blocks from where Freedom Plaza might rise. By high school in '92, he was already working for his dad's Solow Building Co. The guy started at the bottom, parking cars near his dad's buildings on West 57th. Day one nearly ended in disaster. "I had no idea how to drive stick, and the car got wild, but I managed to stop it without a scratch," he recalls. "I'm still a pro at parking in tight spots, so if push comes to shove, I could valet again."

Next year, he hit up the University of Rhode Island, got sidetracked trading stuff like sugar, then gold, and finally grain. "I'd hit up a payphone and call my broker at JPMorgan," he says. But then his dad pulled him back to New York to run the family's parking garages. Met a girl at a party in East Hampton, got hitched, and the constant clashes with his dad sent Stefan and his bride westward. "We were always butting heads – impossible to work with him," Stefan admits.

The newlyweds landed in Kansas, where Stefan bought his first land on the cheap with a federal loan and started his agribusiness Crossroads. Twenty years later, he's built a conglomerate that spreads over 400,000 hectares, growing wheat and corn. He's also got this cattle ranch in New Mexico, churning out 1.5 million pounds of beef a year. He's one of the top 30 landowners in the country.

When the old man passed, Stefan inherited Solow Building Co. and merged it with his gig to create Soloviev Group. He sold off dad's apartment portfolio for $1.75 billion last summer. In April 2020, he bagged some businesses on Shelter Island, including the swanky The Chequit hotel. Plus, he owns a boatload of farmland in Long Island's north fork. Like many Americans during the pandemic, he shifted to Delray Beach, Florida. Asked if he's using dad's playbook for the casino biz, he zips by on Roosevelt Drive with a "Nope. I've got my own style. I'll make it as beautiful as it gets."

But Stefan's not the only one trying to sell New Yorkers on needing a casino. Earlier this month, New York's Gaming Facility Location Board threw down the gauntlet, asking for bids to open up to three new casinos. The state's asking for each proposal to pack at least $500 million in capital investments plus another $500 million for a gaming license. Bidders have to cough up a $1 million non-refundable fee to the state's Gaming Commission just to get in the door.

In the last few months, New York's richest and most influential developers have been waving their grand plans for Vegas-style casinos in all five boroughs. Related Companies, the folks behind Hudson Yards, are partnering with Wynn to build next to the Javits Center on the West Side. Hudson's Bay Company, the Saks Fifth Avenue owner, wants to turn the top floors of their flagship store by Rockefeller Center into a high-end casino. And then there's SL Green Realty Corp., Jay-Z's Roc Nation, and Caesars Entertainment, hoping to move Caesars Palace right into the beating heart of Times Square.

Back in January, Vornado, a big name in New York real estate, hinted it might throw its hat in the ring for a casino spot at the famous Hotel Pennsylvania, across from Madison Square Garden, which is getting the axe later this year. "We're eyeing a casino license bid, but no deal yet," says a Vornado rep.

Billionaire Steve Cohen, the New York Mets owner, wants to roll the dice on a casino near Citi Field in Willets Point, Queens. Thor Equities announced a $3 billion pitch to open a casino on Coney Island in Brooklyn on a 5-hectare waterfront stretch from Surf Avenue to Wonder Way. Las Vegas Sands, after selling its Venetian and Palazzo casinos in Vegas to Apollo Management for $6.25 billion in 2021, is itching to make a big gaming comeback in America with a billion-dollar complex at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

New York's top developers and the world's biggest gaming companies are duking it out for the "Holy Grail" – a Manhattan casino license. But there's a snag in Freedom Plaza's plan and all potential New York casinos: the locals aren't keen on it. Despite Soloviev growing up a block away from his vacant lot, and his dad's buildings dotting the neighborhood, Community Board 6, overseeing Murray Hill, Tudor City, and Kips Bay, is dead set against the development. "There's a lot of pressure," says Kyle Athayde, the board's chair, vowing to use their full sway to block this thing. Athayde calls the promised observation wheel, soccer field, and other perks from developers "smoke and mirrors" designed to sway locals into greenlighting the casino. "It's the same old song and dance – promising big revenue-generating projects with a side of infrastructure," Athayde gripes. "We're fed up with it."

But Michael Hershman, the big cheese at Soloviev Group, bets the community board will come around. "Building anything in Manhattan without community pushback is a tall order," he says.

Another hurdle for Soloviev and the billionaire real estate tycoons in the race is that two favorites already have a leg up. Political and industry insiders believe that two casinos close to Manhattan, already raking it in for years, have the edge. Resorts World New York in Queens, accessible by subway and owned by billionaire Lim Kok Thay, and MGM Empire City in Yonkers with their race tracks and slots – no table games like blackjack or roulette yet – could easily go full-casino mode.

Nick Antenucci, a lawyer and lobbyist who's been in Resorts' corner, says anything could happen in competitive bidding, but Resorts World and MGM are likely to nab two of the three licenses. "If I were a betting man, we're talking one license up for grabs," he says. That means the city's major developers and top gaming giants are scrapping over the "Holy Grail" – a Manhattan casino license that could rake in billions.

Back on his plot, Soloviev feels most at home on the endless Western plains. But like any savvy developer, he doesn't believe in losing. What's his fallback if the casino license doesn't come through? "Maybe I'll start a marijuana farm," he jokes. "We've got one goal – to win."