Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in the US state of Pennsylvania is planning a $90m expansion that would add restaurants, slot machines and table games.
An expansion the size of two football fields would carry Sands’ investment in south Bethlehem to nearly $1bn, while creating the largest gaming floor among the state’s 12 casinos and expanding a table games business that’s already among the most lucrative outside of Las Vegas.
The decision to go ahead with the project came just days after New Jersey voters overwhelmingly decided against expanding casino gambling into northern New Jersey, preserving a market that provides Sands with roughly half of its gamblers.
Construction could begin in January in Bethlehem, but Sands CEO Mark Juliano cautioned that the project will first need the approval of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The 81 additional table games would boost Sands’ stable of tables to more than 300, requiring special approval from the gaming board because the 2004 gambling law set a 250-table limit.
