Peppermills $230 million expansion includes 17-story hotel tower
In the works for six years, the Peppermill Hotel-Casino unveiled plans Thursday for a $230 million expansion, including a 17-story, all-suite hotel tower.
In addition to the new hotel tower with 600 rooms, the blueprint calls for retail shops, a two-story nightclub and more than doubling existing convention and exhibition space to a total of 90,000 square feet.
The casino floor will grow 14,000 square feet to a total of 94,000 square feet to accommodate 300 new slot machines and 12 new table games, Peppermill officials said at a news conference Thursday.
Also planned are a year-round pool and gardens with entertainment deck; new spa, salon and fitness center; and a parking garage with 1,600 parking spaces.
Construction is scheduled to begin next month and be completed by the fall of 2007 at the hotel-casino on South Virginia Street south of the downtown casino district.
Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said the new investment signals continued growth in the local economy, where annual gambling revenue dropped about 12% the past five years as tourism waned.
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"This town is alive and well," Cashell said Thursday. "The Peppermill is stepping up to the plate. They have confidence in Reno."
Bill Hughes, Peppermills director of casino marketing operations, said the company has "always been very committed to the Reno-Sparks area."
"We are very excited about the expansion and we believe it will be a great addition to the Reno-Sparks marketplace," he said.
The curved glass hotel tower with a Tuscan-themed lobby will have wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling glass to maximize views of the Sierra and Reno skyline, company officials said.
The Palace Suite will be 2,800 square feet. Upscale amenities will include large screen plasma televisions, marble bathrooms and spa tubs.
The Peppermill started taking out the necessary permits with the city in 1999 to begin planning for the expansion. That year, the hotel-casino spent $65 million to renovate and enlarge many of its facilities, including using space in the closed Century Theaters next door.
One expert told the Reno Gazette-Journal last week that the Peppermills pending expansion could be an attempt to head off competition from the Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, which has announced plans for two south Reno hotel-casinos.
"Peppermill, by jumping into this, could be an attempt to pre-empt Stations interest in the market," said Bill Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.
The Reno City Planning Commission approved Station Casinos plan Wednesday night for a 500-room hotel and casino near the Reno-Sparks convention center.
The resort would be built at the corner of Kietzke Lane and South Virginia Street several blocks southeast of the Peppermill. The plans must be approved by the city council before construction begins.
Station Casinos also is planning a project in south Reno near U.S. Highway 395 and the Mount Rose Highway, but that project has not yet gone before the planning commission.
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