Wynn Resorts entered what is expected to become a heated bidding process to operate a casino-resort in New York City. The company announced a partnership earlier this month with New York-based Related Companies to seek a gaming license for Western Yards at Hudson Yards.

The location is next to the Javits Center, one of the busiest convention centers in the United States. A $1.5 billion expansion of the center was recently completed.

In the state budget approved by New York lawmakers earlier this year, a section was set aside to provide for three downstate gaming licenses. The process is expected to attract most of the major Nevada gaming operators, including Las Vegas Sands, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International. It was reported in July that New York Mets owner Stephen Cohen and Sands were discussing a casino project near Citi Field, the team’s stadium.

Wynn is the first operator to formally announce a New York partnership.

“We look forward to engaging with the community to hear expectations for our development,” Wynn CEO Craig Billings said in a statement.

Hudson Yards is within walking distance of all of the region’s major public transportation options.

Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group developed Hudson Yards as the center of New York City’s West Side. The area includes retail, restaurants, offices, public art and open gardens and groves, and dynamic cultural institutions and attractions.

“As New York City emerges from the pandemic, the Western Yards provides the ideal site for a resort that will reinvigorate our tourism economy and provide billions in tax revenues for the city and state,” Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau said in a statement.