MGM Springfield raises projected cost of changes to $950M

MGM Resorts is going well above its original cost estimate for the planned casino in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The casino operator initially expected to spend $860 million for the project, but on Wednesday, MGM updated its cost analysis to more than $950 million, including capitalized interest and land-related costs.

The Las Vegas-based company previously announced that it is scaling down the total square footage of the Springfield project. Last September, MGM nixed the 25-story hotel tower in favor of a new design that will have 250 rooms crammed in six floors. The casino operator followed this up with another announcement less than a month later, saying it will remove at least 759,157 square feet from the originally planned 881,691 square feet.

The redesign was due to “steep cost increases,” but MGM Resorts has yet to specify what these changes are, according to MassLive.