MURPHY, NC – Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel continues to make significant progress towards its $275 million expansion project. On schedule to be completed in late 2024, the project features three additions increasing the gaming floor by 25,000 sq. ft., adding a new 296-room hotel tower, and introducing a 1,700-space parking deck. Recently, construction on the casino and hotel additions advanced considerably with visible results.
Expanded Gaming Floor
Construction teams led have installed the roof and placed prefabricated exterior wall panels, marking a significant milestone of the casino expansion’s exterior completion. In the coming months, the team will continue interior buildout activities including framing interior walls and installing in-wall and overhead mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.
Once complete, the casino floor will be doubled in size, offering 300 new slot machines and eight additional table games. Supplementary offerings include the highly requested World Series of Poker – Poker Room, a 22-seat casino center bar featuring nine tabletop gaming units, bar and lounge seating, and an expanded motorcoach lobby for bus patrons. These new features of the expanded gaming floor are expected to be available to guests in mid-2024.
New Hotel Tower
Using the recently added 196-foot-tall onsite crane, steel erections have begun on the 12-story hotel tower. Crews have also begun concrete pours to set columns and cast-in-place walls. The tower will ascend vertically in the coming months with anticipated exterior completion of February 2024. Full features of the new hotel tower include 296 additional rooms, an indoor pool, a fitness center, a 9,600 sq. ft. full-service spa and salon, a newly expanded hotel porte-cochere, a new hotel lobby with upgraded hotel registration, and a rooftop restaurant complete with indoor and outdoor seating, breathtaking mountain views and a 25-seat bar and wine cellar. The hotel tower will be the last addition to open in late 2024.
Parking Deck
Adjacent to the casino expansion, excavation activities for the new nearly 1,300-space parking deck are in full swing with foundations scheduled to begin soon. The structure’s location will be convenient to guests as it will provide direct, covered access to the gaming floor once complete. The parking deck is scheduled to open in the summer of 2024, closely following the opening of the gaming floor addition.
Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel officially broke ground on its expansion project in September of 2022. Throughout the expansion, the project will employ over 900 construction workers, and hiring has begun for operational leadership positions, with others expected to post before year’s end. An estimated 100 permanent casino, hotel and food and beverage jobs will become available with starting wages at $15/hour for hourly positions. All Harrah’s Cherokee Casino employees have access to the tuition/certification reimbursement program and career growth opportunities within Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos.
Between local labor, lodging and food, construction materials, equipment and tool rentals, as well as other miscellaneous building costs, the expansion is predicted to bring $35 million into the local economy upon completion. Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River focused on hiring local trade contractors and ensured sustainable construction practices and local building supplies were used where possible.