Casino in pompano

When gamblers descend on Isle Casino Pompano Park this fall, they’ll be placing their bets at a newly named venue with a Las Vegas feel: Harrah’s Pompano Beach.

Owner Caesars Entertainment announced the move Tuesday as it joined with its development partner The Cordish Cos., in the groundbreaking for a casino expansion project and the construction of a climate controlled-garage that will ensure that patrons won’t get rained on or overcome by subtropical heat on those hot South Florida summer days.

Both companies are engaging in a yearslong remake of Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park, which will be designed as a city within a city that boasts a hotel, office campus, several thousand apartment units and a cinema, shops and restaurants.

“Harrah’s is a promise of you’re going to be treated like family, whether you’re a customer, an employee or someone in the community,” Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said at a groundbreaking event attended by local politicians and Isle Casino employees in front of the casino.

“We don’t throw that name around lightly,” he added. “It was a lot of discussion into what shall we call this, and [Isle Casino] was obviously a Harrah’s to us.”

The announcement marked the first round of projects the two companies intend to see rise over the next several years on a acre plot of land in southwest Pompano Beach.

Besides the rebranding, the companies unveiled plans for the following:

A 15,square-foot casino expansion.

A ,square-foot, four-level parking garage connected to the casino that will add more than 1, parking spaces.

A “gaming terrace” that will add 12, square feet of outdoor gaming.

The casino will operate under the Harrah’s brand while the various elements of the development to be built by Cordish will be known under its LIVE! Resorts Pompano brand.

“With Harrah’s Pompano Beach at its heart, Live! Resorts Pompano will bring together casino gaming with best-in-class entertainment, retail, dining, hotel, residential, office, logistics and lifestyle amenities into one dynamic destination,” said David Cordish, founder and CEO of The Cordish Cos.

He said the project “will provide thousands of new jobs and create a unique destination for residents and visitors to the region.”

The two companies expect to draw nationally recognized restaurants and live entertainment venues. Including the casino, the upgrades and additions would cover more than two million square feet.

Toward the end of the s, Caesars and Cordish will have supplanted the decades-old casino and harness racetrack with a ,square-foot gambling, dining and entertainment destination, with slots and electronic table games and approximately 30 live-action table games.

A multiyear redevelopment

A lot has happened since the project was first announced in

The COVID pandemic prompted Cordish, developer of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, to cut back the office segment of the redevelopment and introduce a 1 million-square-foot industrial project that would be the home of an e-commerce fulfillment center for a still-unidentified company.

The facility would be suitable for the likes of Amazon, Walmart, UPS or FedEx.

In an interview, Cordish said the company was moving closer to naming the occupant, which he has been prohibited from doing under a nondisclosure agreement.

Also since the project started, Eldorado Resorts, the partner of Cordish, formally took over Caesars Entertainment Corp. in and created the largest casino and entertainment company in the U.S.

Although Eldorado was the surviving company, it retained the more prominent Caesars brand name of a worldwide business that operates more than 55 casino properties.

Harrah’s Pompano and LIVE! Pompano are among them. Located south of Atlantic Boulevard and bordered on the west by Powerline Road, the project encompasses acres. The site is expected to add a Tri-Rail commuter station south of West Atlantic Boulevard.

A Publix, too

Besides the conglomeration of residential, commercial and entertainment buildings, plans also call for a public park, walking and bike trails, and a “crystal lake” for swimming.

Late last year, planners added a new Publix to the mix. The supermarket would be built in the project’s northwest corner, which is zoned for commercial retail use.

The one-story, 55,square-foot store would have an attached liquor store and a pharmacy with a drive-through window.

The other parts of the project’s retail element would include 10 one-story buildings and around surface parking spaces for patrons.