Las Vegas Sands Wants Tax Breaks for Nassau Casino Project

It’s early days for Las Vegas Sands’ plan to build a casino and megadevelopment in Nassau County, but the company is preparing its game plan for the project.

The resort and gaming company will seek tax breaks for the $4 billion project around Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Newsday reported. Sands already cleared several legislative hurdles for its project, though there are more standing in its way.

Sands may seek a sales-tax exemption on construction material purchases and a reduction in the mortgage recording tax. The company would make payments-in-lieu-of-taxes to a host of jurisdictions, including the county, school district and Hempstead Town.

The Coliseum site has been exempted from property taxes due to county ownership, according to a representative for the company. They added the current operator doesn’t make PILOTs, meaning the Sands may actually be making more payments to local tax jurisdictions.

The IDA board unanimously approved transferring the Coliseum’s lease from Nick Mastroianni II to the Sands earlier this week. That transfer didn’t include any additional tax breaks and all of the breaks tied to the existing lease have already been exhausted, according to a Sands attorney.

Separately, the county reached an agreement on a 99-year lease of the arena to Sands, which came with upfront payments to the county. If additional tax breaks are awarded, however, the IDA may need to approve that lease as well.

The project also needs zoning approvals from Hempstead, and to open a casino would need one of the three downstate gaming licenses the state plans to award.

The company has said it would move forward with a development regardless of whether it gets the license. Outside of the casino, the Sands is obligated by the lease to build a luxury hotel, entertainment center and a housing component, according to county officials. It is also weighing conference space, restaurants and a health club.

— Holden Walter-Warner