First part of $1.25 billion Catawba Two Kings Casino opens as main Delaware North gaming undertaking reaches new milestone

The Catawba Nation and key accomplice Delaware North on May 20 opened the primary part of the $1.25 billion Catawba Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain, N.C., close to Charlotte – a brand new milestone in a serious gaming undertaking for the corporate.

The first part, referred to as the introductory on line casino, options 1,350 slot machines, 36 digital desk video games (ETGs), 22 conventional desk video games, 68-seat restaurant, 18-seat bar, high-limit space, sports activities betting kiosks and participant rewards desk. It is changing the extremely profitable momentary on line casino that opened in July 2021 and represents the primary portion of the brand new total improvement to open.

Several Delaware North crew members supporting the on line casino opening pause for a photograph with Trent Troxel, vice chairman of the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority. From left to proper are Louis DiCampli, vice chairman of desk video games; Kevin Keens, senior director of design & building; Troxel; Michael Carruthers, vice chairman of gaming operations; and Paul Arsenault, director of gaming methods and tasks.

Delaware North – which since 2019 has labored with the Catawba Nation in myriad methods to assist fulfill their imaginative and prescient of a on line casino to carry financial advantages to their residents – serves because the guide on gaming and hospitality, in addition to the developer.

Delaware North CEO Lou Jacobs, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jamie Obletz, Gaming President Jason Gregorec and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Jack McNeill had been amongst a big contingent of firm leaders who attended and supported many elements of the opening, together with gaming (slots and desk video games), meals & beverage, design & building, procurement, safety, advertising and marketing and communications.

The contingent additionally toured the general on line casino complicated below building, guided by Chuck Kilroy, Delaware North’s lead guide for Catawba Two Kings Casino, and the event crew, led by Greg Dauberger, vice chairman of design and building; Kevin Keens, senior director of design and building; and Mark Middlestadt, undertaking supervisor.

The total on line casino, which has a projected spring 2027 opening, might be about 2 million sq. toes and have a 24-story, 385-room lodge; 4,300 slot machines; 100 desk video games; 11 eating shops, together with a steakhouse, Italian restaurant, market with six venues, café and grab-and-go outlet; a gamers lounge; 11 bars, together with a middle bar and sports activities bar; and three,500 parking areas by way of the two,700-space parking storage constructed below the on line casino complicated and 800 floor parking areas.

As the doorways to the introductory on line casino opened at 10 a.m., a whole lot of excited patrons streamed into the brand new house, which options elegant on line casino décor and excessive ceilings – a marked enhancement from the setting of the momentary on line casino, which was housed in an adjoining collection of prefabricated container buildings and restricted to an enclosed meals truck and café counter for meals and beverage choices. The introductory on line casino homes 250 extra slot machines and eight extra desk video games than the momentary on line casino featured.

Prior to the opening, crews moved about 600 slot machines from the momentary on line casino to the introductory on line casino and put in about 750 new slot machines and 22 new desk video games within the new house on the huge improvement’s first stage. The first and second ranges of parking within the new complicated opened to accommodate introductory on line casino patrons.

Work on the everlasting on line casino resort started after a June 2024 groundbreaking ceremony. A major building milestone was reached on Oct. 27, 2025, with placement of the ultimate beam atop the on line casino throughout a topping-off ceremony.

At left: Trent Troxel, vice chairman of the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority, addresses members of Charlotte-area media earlier than displaying them the brand new on line casino house. At proper: Michael Warrick (heart), a reporter with Charlotte’s WBTV, interviews a patron through the on line casino opening.

The undertaking has already created a whole lot of building jobs. Upon completion, the on line casino resort will make use of an estimated 2,200 native residents and residents of the Catawba Nation and have a big constructive financial impression on Kings Mountain, Cleveland County and the state of North Carolina.

The undertaking is being led by Catawba Nation Chief Brian Harris, the Catawba Nation Executive Committee and the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority, with Vice President Trent Troxel as its onsite consultant. In addition to Delaware North, companions embrace Yates-Metcon as the development basic contractor; Square One Consultants because the proprietor’s consultant; and SOSHNY Architects.