Traditions at the Glen Vies for New York Casino License

A third player is laying the cards on the table in a bid to land one of the newly approved licenses for a full, Las Vegas-style casino in the Southern Tier.

Before Proposition One, allowing for the expansion of legalized gambling in New York passed earlier this month, Tioga Downs racino owner, Jeff Gural, announced he planned to apply for the Southern Tier license and expand the existing Town of Nichols facility while Vista Hospitality Group, owned by two Binghamton brothers said they wanted to place a casino in an undisclosed location in the Greater Binghamton Area.

Now, the owners of Traditions at the Glen, which has been known in the past as the IBM Country Club and the Homestead, say they want to invest $150 million to develop the site on Watson Boulevard into a larger resort, including a full casino, concert venue, conference and golf facility.

Officials with the Walsh family, which owns the Town of Union facility say they are not looking to put Tioga Downs out of business. They say the neighboring facility could continue to operate successfully with harness racing and video slots.

During the formal announcement of plans to apply for the license November 14, Bill Walsh said the Traditions location, just off Route 17, is in a prime spot and in a larger population area than Tioga Downs.