Harrah’s New Orleans is being subjected to rebranding as part of the venue’s renovation that is worth $325 million and is set to add a new 340-room hotel tower and entrance way. The project is set to be completed by 2024.
Yesterday, Caesars Entertainment, which currently owns Harrah’s New Orleans, confirmed that the casino is set to change its name to Caesars New Orleans. Furthermore, the gambling venue along with the hotel tower will get a new “valet porte chochère” at the already existing entrance of the venue. New food and hospitality offerings are also planned to be added to the ones of the existing casino building. Also, the gambling operator confirmed some unspecified development of the casino’s second-floor area that is not currently occupied.
Previously, Caesars Entertainment has revealed its willingness to be able to offer other entertainment options that are not associated with gambling.
The renovation was officially approved as part of Caesars’ casino operating license extension through 2054 that was granted by the Louisiana lawmakers in 2019. Yesterday, the company shared that the detailed plans for the works were being tabled to the New Orleans Building Corporation as part of the approval process.
Renovation Process of Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel and Casino to Create New Jobs
The expansion project of Caesars Entertainment has been given a start at a time when the new Four Seasons Hotel and Residence that is situated just nearby is entering the final months of the completion of its $530-million renovation project.
According to the casino’s parent company, the renovation process for Harrah’s New Orleans is set to create 600 construction jobs. The gambling operator has pledged to add 500 new full-time jobs as of 2024 when the operating license’s renewal is to commence.
As part of its efforts to get the approval of the local legislature for license extension in 2019, Caesars Entertainment had explained that it needed to add the new 340-room tower to the already existing 450-room hospitality venue because of lack of room availability.
At the time it negotiated its license extension deal, the casino operator further promised that it would continue to employ no less than 2,400 people, with 500 new workers set to be added after the hotel was built. Caesars Entertainment also made a commitment to make contributions to various state and city infrastructure projects, including the sum of $19.5 million that is set to be paid over a 3-year period to the city of New Orleans.
Caesars turned into the biggest gambling group in the US in July 2020 when it was acquired by Eldorado Resorts. Despite the takeover deal, the new owner of Caesars Entertainment decided to retain the name of its acquisition target because of its popularity. The deal worth $17.3 billion took a year to be finalized. In order to give their permission for the acquisition, federal regulatory bodies required from the combined group to dispose of several casino venues, including the Shreveport-based Eldorado Casino Resort.
Currently, Caesars Entertainment also owns four floating casinos in Louisiana – Bossier City-based Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, Horseshoe Bossier City, Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Lake Charles, and the Belle of Baton Rouge. Unfortunately, gambling has been one of the industries that suffered the hardest blow of the coronavirus pandemic as casinos and related hotels were forced to cease operation, which forced their owners to furlough or dismiss thousands of workers.
