Caesars Virginia names Danville casino contractor

Caesars Virginia has named Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner as the general contractor to build its $500 million resort and casino in Danville, Caesars Entertainment announced Monday.

The resort will have a 500-guestroom hotel, a casino with more than 1,400 slot machines and table games, a Caesars sportsbook and a World Series of Poker-branded poker room. It will also include 40,000 square feet of meeting and convention space and a 2,500-person entertainment venue, along with bars and restaurants.

In September 2021, Caesars upped the price tag by $100 million for a larger hotel with 500 rooms, instead of 300. The project promises to bring 900 construction jobs and 1,300 new operational jobs. It is set to be complete in late 2023.

Whiting-Turner has built the Horseshoe Baltimore casino and The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Maryland, as well as projects at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, The LINQ Hotel + Experience Las Vegas and other resorts. In Virginia, the company has restored the University of Virginia’s Rotunda and built the NASA Integrated Engineering Services Building in Hampton.

“Caesars Entertainment is thrilled to be working with Whiting-Turner to build Caesars Virginia,” Robert Livingston, senior vice president of development for Caesars Entertainment, said in a news release. “We are confident Whiting-Turner, and their proven record of success, will make for an incredible partner to build the world-class resort we’ve promised the city of Danville.”

In March, demolition began to take down the finishing plant on the Schoolfield site to make room for the new casino.

Danville is one of four Virginia cities with casinos in the works — the others are in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Bristol. Richmond voters initially voted down a casino referendum on the November 2021 ballot but may get to vote again in the future.