Caesars' Virginia casino on track to open Summer 2023, doing site work

Caesars moves forward with the construction of its casino in Danville, Virginia, which is still on schedule to open in summer 2023, according to city officials. At least two Danville city councilmen do not want to see onerous restrictions imposed on the planned casino.

Caesars is in the middle of doing site work to find out what the facility will look like. Officials say there are discussions about how tall the building should be and how to incorporate the iconic smoke stacks, WFXR reports. The City of Danville expects shoveling and graveling to start later this year.

“It’s a long process to do this, but everything is on track and will be open spring, summer of 2023, which is what they’ve said all along,” said Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler. “They are still on track for that. You will start to see some dirt moved around later in the year, but they want to make sure they have everything lined up with the building.”

City officials said they are hopeful new businesses will come to the area because of the casino, saying it would be a positive boost for the community.

Vogler said he wants no limits on the height of the building or signs for the casino resort. “We were very deliberate in spending a lot of time and effort” attracting a casino to Danville, Vogler said during Danville City Council’s work session March 16, as reported by Danville Register & Bee. “I don’t want to do anything that handcuffs them in any kind of way in developing this property,” Vogler said during a discussion of proposed creation of a separate zoning district for the casino.

City officials plan to create a separate zoning district — the casino entertainment district — for the Caesars Virginia casino. Danville Planning Director Doug Plachcinski spoke to the council during the work session to get input from members on what they want in the zoning ordinance for the casino district.

“It was good to have that feedback,” City Manager Ken Larking said Monday. “Certainly that, combined with the other feedback that we get from people who live in the neighborhood and the Caesars development team and others, it will all be combined and examined by the [Danville] Planning Commission.”

The commission voted 7-0 March 8 to direct the planning director to begin the process of establishing a new zoning district with use and dimensional standards for the casino resort project at the former Dan River Inc. Schoolfield site.

Plachcinski told the Danville Register & Bee on Monday that Vogler and Councilman James Buckner, who also does not want to see restrictions imposed on the project, had valid points.

The last part of the draft zoning ordinance is being wrapped up and will be sent to Caesars officials this week for their review, Plachcinski said. The site is currently in the industrial manufacturing zoning district. The 78-acre site includes the 617,000-square-foot former Dan River Inc. finishing building. Company officials have said they are not sure what they will do with the structure.

The proposed timeline for establishment of the zoning district includes an April 12 public hearing and zoning ordinance text amendment recommendation by the Danville Planning Commission. A public hearing would be held on the zoning ordinance text amendment May 4 during Danville City Council’s meeting. Council would decide whether to adopt the amendment.

On June 7, the planning commission would hold a public hearing on the Schoolfield site rezoning, and possibly send a recommendation to City Council. Danville City Council would hold its public hearing on the rezoning ordinance and likely adopt it on July 6.

The casino resort is expected to include multiple restaurants and bars, a hotel with 300 four-star guest rooms, a 35,000-square-foot conference center, a 2,500-seat live-entertainment venue, a pool and a spa. It would also have 2,000 slot machines, 75 table games, 16 poker tables and a sportsbook to wager on various sports competitions. It would bring 1,300 full-time jobs once operational — in addition to 900 jobs during construction. The casino positions are expected to pay an average between $35,000 and $47,000 annually.