Vegas mogul Steve Wynn pursuing Everett casino site

By Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn, who failed to persuade Foxborough to accept a lavish $1 billion gambling resort, is investigating land on the Mystic River for a possible casino bid in Everett, which would create a clash among gambling titans for the state’s most lucrative casino license.

Wynn, the creator of iconic hotels on the Vegas Strip, such as Bellagio, the Mirage, and Treasure Island, is expected in Everett this week to personally view the site, Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s office confirmed to the Globe this afternoon. The mayor’s office would not say when Wynn is to arrive, but another source said the casino billionaire is due in Everett on Wednesday.

A top Wynn Resorts executive, Kim Sinatra, viewed the land, known as the former Monsanto Chemical site, within the past few weeks.

Wynn’s return to the Massachusetts market would create a competition for the sole greater Boston casino license between two of the biggest names in casino gambling. Suffolk Downs, in partnership with casino giant Caesars Entertainment, has already applied for casino development rights for the track in East Boston.

Under the 2011 Massachusetts casino law, the state gambling commission can issue up to three licenses for resort-style casinos, no more than one in each of three regions of the state.

Competition has been robust in Western Massachusetts, with three proposals for Springfield, one for Palmer, and a new prospect in Holyoke. Commercial casino development is on hold in the southeast to allow the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe time to make progress on a tribal casino, approved under federal law.

The greater Boston area has only one formal applicant, Suffolk Downs and Caesars; the gambling commission has been trying to encourage competition.