A rendering of the proposed Stadium Casino development at the Westmoreland Mall, Hempfield Township, PA.

HARRISBURG, PA—The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board unanimously approved a license award to Stadium Casino, LLC, a division of The Cordish Companies of Baltimore, to construct a Category 4 casino in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County.

The award for the Live! Casino Pittsburgh project concludes a process the board began on Jan. 24, 2018 when Stadium Casino, LLC secured a 15-mile radius area in which it could locate a casino with a winning bid of $40,100,005 at the second Category 4 auction held by the board.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board conducted an investigation of the application along with the collection of public input from citizens, community groups and public officials at a hearing held in Hempfield Township on December 5, 2018 where Stadium Casino presented plans for the casino project to the gaming control board.

Prior to its affirmative vote on Wednesday the board held a final licensing hearing in which representatives of Stadium Casino were questioned by Board members about the project.

A Category 4 Slot Machine License permits the entity to operate between 300 and 750 slot machines. The entity could also petition for permission to initially operate up to 30 table games for an additional fee of $2.5 million with the capability of adding an additional 10 tables games after its first year of operation. The table games certification was also approved by the Board on Wednesday.

In connection with the development of Live! Casino Pittsburgh, Stadium Casino will renovate a 100,000-square-foot area at the Westmoreland Mall. The casino will feature 750 slot machines and will open with 30 table games with an anticipated expansion to 40 tables. Other features will include dining and entertainment venues.

The facility is targeting a 2020 opening. When that occurs, Live! Casino Pittsburgh expects to employ 500 full- or part-time workers.

This is the second Category 4 license award by the Gaming Control Board. In June of this year, an award was approved for Penn National Gaming’s facility in Berks County. The Hollywood Casino Morgantown will total approximately 80,000 square foot facility will feature 750 slot machines and 30 table games, with the ability to accommodate an additional 10 table games. The facility is to be developed on a vacant 36-acre site in Caernarvon Township. The construction timeline on the $111-million project is anticipated to be approximately 18 months.

Three of the projects that won auctions to apply are pending, the gaming board reported.

Also in June, The Rivers Casino Pittsburgh announced 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.

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PA Gaming Board Approves License for Live! Casino Pittsburgh

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