Gateway Casinos Inc. has started construction on a new 100,000-sq.-ft. casino and entertainment centre in New Westminster.
The casino project in the Queensborough district, which borders New Westminster and Richmond, marks the first phase of a combined entertainment and hotel complex, says Gateway president Dave Gadhia.
Burnaby-based Gateway, which operates through its Gateway Casinos Income Fund, also plans to build two apartment-style hotel towers on the 23-acre site by 2007.
A feasibility study on the second phase is now underway and is expected to be completed this year.
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| Photo courtesy Gateway Casinos |
| Artist's rendering of the planned 100,000-sq.-ft. complex. Even though it's replacing the Royal City Casino, the name remains a working title for the new centre. |
The casino, expected to be one of the largest in the province, will be located near a shopping centre anchored by a big-box Wal-Mart store, which Gadhia views as a strong drawing card.
"With the advent of the retail power centre, we believe this (Queensborough) area will become a more vibrant retail-entertainment centre and, indeed, over time it'll prove to be a very attractive location," says Gadhia.
He bases that comment on the fact the site at Westminster Highway and Boundary Road intersects east-west and north-south highways linked to the Queensborough and Alex Fraser bridges, making it accessible from New Westminster as well as Richmond and the Surrey-Delta areas.
"We feel that this particular location will become the gaming entertainment centre for the Delta-New Westminster-South Surrey area," says Gadhia. "We think it'll attract other retail and entertainment operators to that area as well."
Gadhia says Gateway decided to go into Queensborough based on a market analysis of the region in conjunction with the B.C. Lottery Corp., which determined that it was the most underserved area for gaming in the Lower Mainland.
The firm was also obligated to stay within New Westminster in accordance with its agreement with that city.
Gateway will operate the casino through a 50-per-cent- owned private subsidiary known as Star of Fortune Gaming Management Ltd.
When the $65-million Queensborough facility opens next year, Gateway will close its Royal City Star casino (commonly called the Riverboat casino) at New Westminster Quay. It will also shut down the Royal Towers Hotel casino near downtown New Westminster.
"The parking and access has always been a very difficult problem with the (New Westminster Quay) facility because it is on the other side of the land," says Gadhia. "You have to cross railway tracks and parking is not contiguous with the facility.
"With the growth of other casinos in the Vancouver area, business at (the Riverboat casino) has continually declined," adds Gadhia. "So when we purchased a 50-per-cent interest in the company in 2003, we looked at relocating the casino to a land facility."
He says the Royal Towers venue was outdated and parking was difficult. By consolidating on one site, Gateway can build larger and better facilities, and provide more amenities, he adds.
New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright says the Queensborough casino will help the city develop that area and inner-city casino closures will help revitalize the waterfront and Royal Towers.
"We're very positive about it," says Wright. "Obviously, it's a wonderful move for the city."
The Queensborough casino sits near the Fraser River. Wright says the city will be able to use $1 million from casino revenues to develop bays once used for fishing boats into a park area while the casino will help attract more local residents, tourists and boats to the area.
Wright says the Queensborough development coincides with changes to Highway 99, which links Greater Vancouver to the U.S. border. The city plans to develop housing on its land on the other side of the highway.
Meanwhile, the relocation from the Riverboat, also on the Fraser, allows the city to expand its Discovery Centre, which contains a maritime museum - a move that will likely attract more tourists, says Wright.
The Royal Towers, a New Westminster landmark, he says, is also in the process of being sold and council soon expects to receive a redevelopment plan from its new owner. City planners are going over the information and will soon forward it to council.
"It's a great location and we've only got one other hotel in the city," says Wright.
The opening and closures mean the city will boost its casino revenues to $8 million from $6 million. Wright says New Westminster was the "guinea pig" for casinos on the Lower Mainland and its early experiment is now paying off.
He described the new complex as the first destination casino of its kind, but Gateway's Gadhia says it's intended primarily for local residents.
The new casino will contain 600 slot machines, 50 gaming tables and a poker room.
The venue will also be home to a 10,000-sq.-ft. standalone restaurant (to be operated by a yet-to-be-determined chain), a café, a 250-seat entertainment lounge, four-lane bowling alley and an "interactive sports bar" housing virtual golf and simulated boxing games.
"It's a combination of a sports bar and an arcade," says Gadhia.
Gateway is also building a casino, and 77-room hotel and convention centre in Langley, at the corner of Fraser Highway and Glover Road, with a private partner. The venue, slated to open in April, is designed for use by customers from within B.C. rather than the nearby U.S. market.
"We don't see the hotel being used with the casino marketing because there'll be a limited opportunity for that," says Gadhia.
Gateway is also redeveloping the old Villa hotel site, a south Burnaby landmark formerly known as the Sheraton Villa and now known as the Radisson Hotel Burnaby. The hotel is across the street from its existing Burnaby Casino.
"We're building larger facilities that provide a greater array of other entertainment within the casinos - not just gaming," says Gadhia.
(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)
