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Caesars Entertainment‘s casino resort is coming to Danville, Virginia, sooner than expected.
The company’s new $650 million property, Caesars Virginia, was initially scheduled to open in 2023, with the opening date pushed back to 2024.
As mentioned in the Caesars’ Q3 earnings call this week, the gaming and hospitality giant now plans to open a temporary casino in the middle of 2023. It would be more than a year before Caesars Virginia intended to open its permanent casino hotel resort in the same spot.
The new casino property is being built on the former site of the Dan River Mills Schoolfield complex.
As announced in August, Caesars will operate the Danville casino resort on behalf of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Caesars reveals more details in the company’s Q3 earnings call
Caesars executives announced the company’s plans during a Q3 earnings call with investors on Nov. 1.
Caesars Entertainment CEO Thomas Reeg said:
“We’ve got temporary casinos in Columbus, Nebraska and Danville, Virginia that will hit next year.”
President and Chief Operating Officer Anthony Carano added:
“We expect to open temporary casinos in both Danville, Virginia and Columbus, Nebraska by mid-year ’23.”
By law, the Danville casino property must be located at the Schoolfield site. It was the location listed in the casino referendum question voters ed in November 2020.
Caesars casino to bring earlier-than-expected gaming-tax revenue
The Caesars casino coming to Danville earlier than expected is good news for the city.
As Danville & Bee reported, Danville City Manager, Ken Larking, confirmed Caesars’ plans during an interview held on Nov. 2:
“The Caesars team told me they were working with the Virginia Lottery to have a temporary casino at the [Schoolfield] site.”
Larking said he had no other details on the temporary casino.
“Certainly, we would welcome additional tax revenue for the city. Just like with every other operation, the cost of doing business is rising for city government.”
$38M in tax revenue for Danville
Once completed in 2024, the Caesars Virginia casino, hotel and entertainment center is expected to generate up to $38 million in tax revenue for the city.
A $650M casino project will also bring 900 construction jobs and 1,300 new operational jobs.
As Caesars Virginia revealed in April this year, Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner would be the general contractor to build the property. The firm was also the primary builder of the Horseshoe Baltimore and the Theatre at MGM National Harbor in Maryland. The company also built Caesars Palace Las Vegas, The LINQ Hotel+Experience Las Vegas and Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.
