Harrah’s New Orleans is set to undergo a $325 million renovation that will turn the building into a casino-hotel renamed as Caesars New Orleans, an expansion that adds a second major hospitality-industry project to the foot of Canal Street.
The parent company of Harrah's, Caesars Entertainment Inc., said Tuesday it had presented the city board that manages the property a plan that would add a new, 340-room hotel tower by 2024 along with other expanded amenities at the site.
Caesars Entertainment is rebranding the Harrah's New Orleans, the Canal Street casino, as part of its $325 million renovation and hotel addition.
The renovation was agreed to last year as part of the deal with the Louisiana Legislature to extend Casears' license to operate the casino through 2054. But it still needs to go through the city-controlled New Orleans Building Corporation as part of the approval process.
In addition to the hotel tower, the casino will get a new "valet porte cochère," or carport, at the existing entrance at the intersection of Canal Street and Convention Center Boulevard. There will also be new food and hospitality offerings in the current casino building and some unspecified development of the unoccupied second-floor area of the casino.
Rendering of the new driveway that will be part of the revamp of Harrah's, which will be renamed Caesars New Orleans, with a new 340-room hotel tower, new food and gambling spaces inside the existing casino and new external features.
Caesars has previously said it wants to be able to offer additional entertainment options apart from gambling at the site. The Fillmore New Orleans, a 2,200 capacity music venue that is part of the Harrah's casino building, has remained closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Samir Mowad, the New Orleans native who took over as General Manager of Harrah’s in September, said there will be further announcements in coming months about other features of the upgrade, pending approval by the Louisiana Gaming Board and city planning authorities.
"What was shared today is only the beginning of a transformation," he said.
The Caesars project adds a second major hospitality-related project to the end of Canal Street, where the $530 million conversion of the old World Trade Center into an upscale Four Seasons hotel and condominium complex is near completion directly across the street towards the Mississippi River.
When the projects are completed, the tourist-heavy area of the city will have added hundreds of hotel rooms in close proximity to the French Quarter and within walking distance of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center several blocks upriver.
Caesars said the project will create 600 construction jobs and the Las Vegas-based casino group has committed to adding 500 new full-time jobs from 2024 when its renewed 30-year license commences.
In a prepared statement, Mayor LaToya Cantrell lauded the new jobs that would come with the project.
“We are excited that this expansion will mean hundreds of construction jobs during the project and hundreds more in sustainable and new jobs post-construction," she said.
Caesars argued during its license application last year that it needed to add the new hotel tower to its existing 450-room hotel because a lack of room availability meant it had to pay to house high-rollers at other city hotels.
Part of Caesars' pledge on the license extension deal was that it would continue to employ at least 2,400 people and add 500 staff after the hotel was built. It also committed to pay for various state and city infrastructure projects, including $19.5 million over three years to New Orleans.
Earlier this year, Caesars got a big break on one of its biggest city bills. The casino operator was one of the prime beneficiaries of a decision by the Orleans Parish Assessor to cut property valuations for 2021 — and thus cut property taxes — for businesses in the area because of the unprecedented effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Hotels saw the highest valuation cuts, at about 58%, which translates into an annual savings for Caesars of an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million.
Caesars became the largest gambling group in the country in July when it was taken over by Eldorado Resorts, which retained the name of the more familiar acquisition target. The $17.3 billion takeover process took a year and included an order by federal regulators that the combined group sell several casinos, including the Eldorado Casino Resort in Shreveport.
In addition to Harrah's New Orleans, the only land-based casino in Louisiana, Caesars now owns four floating casinos: the Belle of Baton Rouge, Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Lake Charles, Harrah’s Louisiana Downs in Bossier City and Horseshoe Bossier City.
Gambling has been among the industries hardest hit by the pandemic, with casinos and related hotels furloughing or laying off thousands of workers.
Caesars Louisiana has issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices for two of its Louisiana operations, Harrah's Louisiana Downs and Horseshoe Bossier City, warning that almost 1,200 furloughed workers might be permanently laid off.
However, it has not done so for the New Orleans casino.
