An upscale restaurant and a quicker service Asian restaurant are two key elements in the Cascades Casino expansion approved by Langley City.
Gateway Casinos and Entertainment, which owns the entire complex and has a franchise agreement with Coast Hotels for the accommodation portion, is adding 23,000 square feet of new space.
“We have seen the marketplace over the past few years change so you have to introduce other entertainment,” said Gateway’s Tanya Gabara. “You’re trying to create a more fullsome experience.”
This will be the first Chow restaurant for Gateway. It’s a sit down quick service Asian restaurant.
“Chow is a new concept that we are planning to roll out,” she explained.
Gateway has Atlas restaurants at its properties in Kamloops and Edmonton, and is adding Langley.
“It’s something that the downtown core doesn’t have,” she said.
Also new will be the rooftop patio.
“It would play to our convention business, weddings, outdoor garden parties…” she said.
“And it’s green space in the heart of the City, something new for clientele.”
Half of the patio will be covered and half will be open air.
Cascades Casino already has a buffet, a Starbucks kiosk and Match Eatery.
“It is one of our busiest Matches within our portfolio,” Gabara said of the Langley restaurant.
There’s no set timeline on the expansion. She said once all the administrative/municipal approvals are in place, Gateway would like to get shovels in the ground in 2017.
“It’s a testament to where Langley’s going but it also speaks to how we’re evolving,” she said.
The City receives 10 per cent of the gaming revenue, as dictated by the provincial government. That deal stays the same under the expansion.
The site is 325,000 square feet with about 26,000 currently devoted to convention space (the ballrooms and meeting rooms). The gaming area is 60,000 square feet.
The development will mean $157,541 in Development Cost Charges (DCCs) for the City. DCCs are used to provide roads, drainage, sewers, water mains and parks.
The added 23,000 square feet will include the two restaurants and about 3,000 square feet added to the gaming floor. Gabara said it’s too soon to know how the space will be configured but the expansion is a chance to revamp the gaming area.
Gaming revenues at most sites in B.C. have decreased in recent years, so Gateway is trying to bring other amenities to Langley which it has owned for 11 years.
“We’re just really excited to add to this property,” Gabara said. “It brings in a different clientele who will then be able to experience the other things you are offering.”