Caesars Entertainment unveils renderings for $500M Virginia resort

Caesars Entertainment has unveiled official renderings for a new $500 million resort that is planned to open in Danville, Virginia.

Caesars Virginia is expected to break ground before the end of 2021 and it is slated to open in late 2023, according to the company.

“Caesars Virginia will be an economic driver for the region, both as a tourist and entertainment draw and through the more than a thousand good-paying jobs the resort will create,” Anthony Carano, president and chief operating officer of Caesars Entertainment, said in a Thursday statement. “The people of Danville have entrusted us to build a world-class resort, and we look forward to proving that trust was well founded with an incredible resort worthy of the iconic Caesars brand.”

In 2020, voters in Danville overwhelmingly voted to allow for casino gambling, a referendum that was backed by Caesars. Three other Virginia cities that had aligned with casino partners also saw voters approve of similar measures last year, including Bristol (aligned with Hard Rock International), Portsmouth (Rush Street Gaming), and Norfolk (Pamunkey Indian Tribe).

“Over the course of the last two years, myself, City Council and staff have taken great care to develop plans, alongside residents and Caesars Entertainment, to create a resort that will positively impact the community through new tax revenue, jobs, partnership opportunities with local businesses and tourism dollars,” Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones, who also served as a co-chair on the Caesars for Danville campaign committee, said in a statement.

The $500 million price tag is $100 million more than initially anticipated in the development agreement for the resort. Once completed, the casino is planned to have 500 rooms, slots and table games, a sportsbook, a 2,500-seat theater and 40,000 square feet of convention and meeting space.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.