Operator News
US – Legends Bay to become Reno’s first new casino in August
By Phil - 9 June 2022
The $120m Legends Bay Casino is set to open in August, becoming the first new casino in Reno since the opening of Silver Legacy in Downtown Reno in 1995.
The casino has been 15 years in the planning but has now been given recommendation for licensing from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The project is expected to receive final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission June 23.
Legends Bay will cover 80,000 square-feet boasting a 40,000 square-foot gaming floor with 660 slot machines, 10 table games, and a sportsbook operated by Derek Stevens’ Circa Sports.
Legends Bay will be integrated into the existing The Outlets at Legends shopping center, an open-air shopping, dining, and entertainment destination next to Sparks marina.
Developer Garry Goett, of Olympia Companies, said: “Waiting has been an outstanding thing for us because we were supposed to be the anchors with Scheels [sporting goods store]. Instead, everybody else built. The shopping center is filled out and the [adjoining] hotels are hugely successful.”
The original project in 2007 was axed during the recession and then again fell short due to the pandemic.
Mr Goett added: “We went five years and counting and we started to rethink the whole project. We came up with a more cost-sensitive project. So, where we had a maybe $500m project that went to $350m and then we went down to $120m. That’s where we ended up.”
“We were very careful not to be a Las Vegas casino,” he added. “This is a northern Nevada casino and we used northern Nevada interior designers for the project. I think they’ve done a wonderful job in bringing the contemporary and sophisticated to the casino, at the same time retaining a strong feeling of northern Nevada.”
