Catawba Indians reveal when $1 billion North Carolina casino is expected to open

Amid the earsplitting din of construction, the Catawba Indians on Tuesday revealed when they'll open their $1 billion Two Kings Casino Resort 35 miles west of Charlotte.
While the main casino complex is expected to open in spring 2027, a single-story 'introductory' casino is on target for a March 2026 opening, tribal officials said during a media tour of the 2.2 million-square-foot project off Interstate 85 exit 5.
'Not only is this facility bringing great jobs to our tribe and our people and creating that generational wealth, it's also bringing that same opportunity to the citizens of Kings Mountain and the citizens of North Carolina,' Catawba Nation Chief Brian Harris said.
The casino complex is the largest current construction project of any kind between New York and Florida, Nory Hazaveh, principal of SOSHNY, the N.Y.-based architect on Two Kings Casino Resort, told The Charlotte Observer at the site.
The introductory casino part of the complex will include 1,300 slot machines, 22 table games, a 40-seat restaurant, an 18-seat bar, sports betting kiosks and a loyalty rewards desk, officials said.
Inside the introductory casino Tuesday, construction officials pointed to steel piping where the ceiling will be, adorned by chandeliers.
The lobby will feature a video mural of the history of the Catawba Nation, along with its pottery and basket making traditions, Trent Troxel, vice president of the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority, said on the tour.
The tribe will close its current single-level casino, which celebrates its fourth anniversary July 1, three months after the introductory casino opens.
Construction of the main casino complex started about a year ago. That includes the introductory casino, three levels of covered parking, a back-of-house level and a top level with the main casino floor and restaurants.
Via an indoor 'skywalk,' the casino complex will attach to a 24-story, 385-room hotel that's also well underway.
The casino complex will have 4,300 slot machines, 100 table games and 11 restaurants, including a steakhouse, an Italian restaurant, a marketplace with six venues, a café and a grab-and-go outlet. Restaurant names will be unveiled closer to the opening, officials said.
The complex also will include a players lounge, 42 elevators and 11 bars, including a center bar and a sports bar.
A 2,700-space parking garage will be built under the main casino floor on a high-rise casino building, and 800 surface parking spaces also will be available.
The project already is employing hundreds of construction workers. Upon completion, the casino resort will employ about 2,200 local residents and citizens of the Catawba Nation, tribal officials said.
With its current single-level, temporary casino, the operation already is providing education opportunities and health care to tribal employees, Troxel told the Observer.
'Most importantly, it's providing jobs,' Troxel said. 'Recently, we hired four or five tribal members. Some of them just came out of college. I didn't have that opportunity to go work for my tribe out of college. But there's opportunities for Catawba college kids now to come work for their nation.'

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