ALBANY, NY—The New York State Gaming Facility Location Board approved and released Request for Applications on Monday that officially opened the bidding process for up to four casinos to be developed in the Capital, Southern Tier and Catskills/Hudson Valley regions of the state.

Applicants for gaming facilities will be accepted until June 30, 2014. The Gaming Facility Location Board has issued a timeline that calls for the selection of casino sites and operators by the early fall of this year.

The Request for Applications includes minimum licensing fees. In he Eastern Southern Tier, licensing fees range form $20 million to $50 million depending on the location and if a casino license is already approved in one section of the Southern Tier. The minimum licensing fee for the Capital Region is set at $50 million. For the Catskills/Hudson Valley region, a minimum licensing fee for a casino project in Dutchess or Orange counties is set at $70 million. If no gaming license is awarded in Orange or Dutchess counties, the minimum licensing fee for Columbia, Delaware, Green, Sullivan and Ulster counties will be $50 million. If a license were awarded for a casino in Dutchess or Orange counties, the minimum fee for the remainder of the Catskills/Hudson Valley region would be $35 million.

An applicant must submit to the Facility Location Board a resolution of local support passed by the local legislative body after Nov. 5, 2013. Compliance with the requirement will serve as a component of the 20% local impact and siting factors criteria to be used in evaluating applications, according to the Facility Location Board.

“This marks the beginning of the bidding process for long-anticipated gaming facilities to benefit Upstate New York,” says Facility Location Board Member Paul Francis. “We look forward to reviewing and evaluating the applications and will continue to conduct an open, honest and transparent process.” Stuart Rabinowitz and William Thompson are also members of what will eventually be a five-member panel.

Casino applicants are required to participate in an April 30 Applicants Conference that will be held at an unspecified location in the Capital Region. The Facility Location Board states it requires more research before establishing minimum capital investment parameters for each region. It is expected to issue investment criteria within 10 days after the April 30th conference.

In the Hudson Valley region, while three proposals in Sullivan County and Ulster counties are considered front-runners by some observers, at least five developers are studying possible sites at locations to the south. The most highly publicized proposals include casino resort proposals at the former Concord and Grossinger's hotels in the town of Thompson and Liberty respectively and at the former Nevele Hotel in Ellenville.

Maureen Halahan, president of the Orange County Partnership, reported at a meeting of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency on March 27 that there are at least four gaming companies that are studying possible casino locations in the county. She said that five sites in the county are currently under contract. Some of the locations include sites in the Harriman/Woodbury area, New Windsor, and the town and city of Newburgh.

Flaum Development of Rochester, NY is scheduled to make a presentation this evening at Monroe-Woodbury High School on its proposal to build a casino on land near the Harriman Metro North station. Earlier this month, the firm pitched a casino plan near Exit 23 off the New York State Thruway. That project would be developed in partnership with the Seneca Nation of Indians, according to a report in the Democrat & Chronicle.