A rendering of the Landing Hotel Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH—The Rivers Casino Pittsburgh has approved plans to break ground on a new $60-million North Shore hotel later this summer.

The seven-story, four-star hotel property will be called “The Landing Hotel Pittsburgh” and will include 219 guest rooms. The hotel will attach to the existing casino on the east facade, facing the Carnegie Science Center, Rivers Casino officials state.

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh received approval for a hotel from the Pittsburgh Planning Commission in 2017. The development was postponed following the approval of gaming legislation that added category 4 “mini-casinos” and reshaped the Pennsylvania casino landscape, casino officials note.

In the meantime, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh successfully completed several significant property upgrades, among them: adding gourmet burger restaurant, FLIPT; opening The Event Center for upsized galas and expos and launching Pittsburgh's first licensed sportsbook.

“The time is right,” says Greg Carlin, CEO of Rush Street Gaming and Rivers Casino Pittsburgh. “Statewide gaming expansion changed our schedule, but never our intentions. Rush Street always envisioned a hotel for Rivers to create a full-service destination on the North Shore. We see it as a natural evolution.”

This will be the second location for The Landing Hotel, which opened in Schenectady, New York, in 2017 as part of Rivers Casino and Resort's complex at Mohawk Harbor.

The Landing Hotel Pittsburgh will add approximately 128 permanent new hotel and casino jobs, along with 1,400 temporary construction jobs. Rush Street has selected Pittsburgh-based Massaro Construction Group to build the hotel/

The new hotel will feature expansive windows on every level with unobstructed views of the Ohio River and Pittsburgh's skyline. Included among the guest rooms are 10 luxury terrace suites, each with private first-floor patios. A contemporary interior and exterior design, consistent with Rivers Casino's upscale urban aesthetic, will integrate beautifully with other North Shore venues.

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh has already begun applying for permits with the city. Pending approval from zoning and planning departments, construction is set to get underway sometime this summer. It will take approximately 18 months to complete the project. Rivers anticipates ribbon-cutting for the new hotel sometime in early 2021.

The hotel was designed by hospitality architect, VOA. Klai Juba Wald is the executive architect for the hotel and related renovations, with planning and landscape design by the Pittsburgh office of Strada, LLC. Development Management Associates will serve as owner's representative.

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh features 2,708 slots, 128 table games (including a 30-table live poker room), 55 hybrid gaming seats and a designated Sportsbook area for live sports betting. The casino offers nine e restaurants and bars—among them are Wheelhouse Bar & Grill, Grand View Buffet and FLIPT—a riverside amphitheater, a black box Event Center space, a multipurpose ballroom, live music performances and free parking. Rivers, which opened in 2009, employs approximately 1,700 workers.

Instant Insights /

'The Time is Right' for a Rivers Casino Pittsburgh Hotel

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