From temporary trailers to a $273M world-class resort, Catawba Two Kings Casino is set to redefine North Carolina gaming. By David McKee
In two years’ time, one of the largest casinos in North America will open on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina. But the road to permanence at Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort was neither swift nor smooth. It will have been 14 years in the making and by way of more headlines than once could shake a stick at … if one is given to shaking sticks.
For one thing, the proximate Cherokee Nation was none too happy about losing its exclusivity in the Tarheel State to the Catawba Nation, proud owners of Two Kings Casino. Nor were they keen on seeing another casino, let alone another tribal one, set up shop within a few hours’ drive.
Other bumps in the road included having to carve out reservation land in North Carolina, up the road from the Catawba Nation’s longtime reservation in South Carolina. Several political heavy hitters, on both sides of the spectrum, had to be enlisted to make that happen.
Another problem arose from the Catawba’s original development agreement with Wallace Cheves. It was so munificent toward Cheves that the National Indian Gaming Commission took the unusual step of kiboshing it. Some unpleasantness followed but exit Cheves, enter experienced steward Delaware North.
The latter’s brief is to convert an ever-growing collection of trailers-cum-casino buildings into an integrated resort that can stand comparison with the best of the rest. It will have come a long way from temporary structures sheltering 500 slot machines and no table games. An ‘introductory casino,’ as it’s called, will open in the spring of 2026 and will feature 1,350 slot and electronic table games, 12 live tables, and a sports book featuring 30 self-service kioks.
When fully completed, a year later, Two Kings will boast a grand total of 4,300 slots and 110 tables, sprawling across the vastness of two million square feet. Casino Life spoke with three of the men and women charged with bringing this grand edifice to life: Catawba Nation Gaming Authority Vice President Trent Troxel, Delaware North project consultant Chuck Kilroy and Delaware North Director of Corporate Communications Glenn White. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Image: Trent Troxel, Vice President, Catawba Nation Gaming Authority
The permanent Two Kings Casino, as of July 2021, was supposed to cost $273 million and be open in 2022. What caused the delay and the increased construction cost?
Troxel: A lot of changed since those figures came out. We have expanded our gaming. We have expanded our footprint overall for gaming and for the hospitality.
Kilroy: It’s a pretty unique place that we’re building. First off, we want to do it right. This is going to be a showplace for this area. This is going to be one of the most spectacular casinos in the country. What’s different about it is it’s built on three stories of parking garage. It’s three football fields long, the casino.
Then comes another level that has a support level for the casino, which is a lot like Disney. It’s where you would have all of the offices, all of the back-of-the-house stuff built into the casino. That structure required a bit more steel. Then, of course, the hotel. It’s going to be the biggest hotel in the area: 385 rooms. The hotel itself is 24 stories but it doesn’t start until after the third story, so really it’s 27 stories with fantastic views, not only from dining at the casino but from every one of the rooms at the hotel.
Image: Chuck Kilroy, Lead Consultant, Delaware North
For people who have perhaps been to the other premier tribal casinos in North America, how is Two Kings going to compare in scale to a WinStar or Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods?
Kilroy: We’re looking at 4,300 machines and table games will be up around 130. So some of those casinos might have more but we’ll see what happens and look to expand in the future.
When did the Catawba first want to venture into the casino business and how many years was it from there to signing a compact?
Troxel: That’s a great question. It was around 2013 that we first started looking at going into the casino business. As far as the compact being signed …
Kilroy: I think it was 2020.
Why did the Catawba go with Delaware North as developer and operator?
Kilroy: I come into it a little bit later. My imagination is that they were looking for someone that would develop it, not having that experience themselves, and be able to run an operation of that scale. Delaware North, with its hospitality business, fit all the right criteria. And Delaware North’s very happy, very proud about that.
The Catawba used to work with Wallace Cheves. What are your feelings now that he is promoting a casino project for Orangeburg County?
Troxel: I don’t have any comment.
How much of a threat would it pose?
Kilroy: We’re in a very unique position here. We have 27,000 vehicles pass here. We’re on Exit Five off Interstate 85. The highway’s heavily traveled, both northbound and southbound, and exits lead directly to the casino. So we’re concentrating on what we can do and we feel confident with what we have.
Two Kings has experienced some difficulties with the National Indian Gaming Commission in the past. How is your current relationship with the NIGC?
Troxel: I think our relationship is fine. As we continue to build those relationships, we look for opportunities with them.
What is your current gambling inventory?
Troxel: Right now we have …
Kilroy: 1,127 machines …
Troxel: … we have 14 table games. We have a small café for a food outlet.
How many buildings is the gambling currently spread across?
Troxel: Sixty-three is my last count.
White: That’s the container trailers that have been facilitated.
Kilroy: I have to say one thing they have done really well here is they provide a nice, friendly environment. It’s very clean. It will shock you, when you look at the outside, when you go in and see how great it looks. And it’s very safe. I’ve been in several casinos, worked several across the country, and it’s probably the safest, friendliest that I’ve been in.
Troxel: We’ve had the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department posted outside our park 24/7.
Which perform better: live table games or electronic-table game pods?
Kilroy: Live table games are doing better than the electronic ones right now. We have fantastic and given, as Trent mentioned, the limited amount of amenities, it would shock most industry experts to see how high-level play they gain. You come in any night and almost all the games are either $50 or $100 and those that aren’t are set at $25. They’re always busy.
How many jobs does Two Kings currently support and how many will the permanent casino sustain?
Troxel: Right now we have 490 employees and we’re going to go up to 2,000-plus.
What are your main feeder markets, besides Charlotte?
Troxel: We’re also big in the Greenville/Spartanburg area. You have people coming from Shelby, North Carolina, and reaching as far down as Columbia, South Carolina.
Kilroy: I would say it goes down into Georgia, but just the greater Charlotte region is a phenomenal area and that’s supposed to grow around six percent per year over the next five years.
How much business will the permanent casino draw away from the two Harrah’s Cherokee casinos?
Troxel: Right now I don’t think we have much competition. They’re at least two and a half hours away, so we’re sitting in a pretty good position.
Is smoking permitted at Two Kings? What about when the permanent casino opens?
Troxel: Right now, with our limited space in our trailers we do not offer smoking. When we open the introductory casino, in the spring of next year, we will not have smoking but there may be an option when we open the permanent casino, in 2027. The top floor will be non-smoking but the introductory casino, on the bottom floor, could be smoking at that time.
Will there be a way for non-smokers to avoid the smoking area then?
Troxel: If we decide to go with smoking, it will be down in the lower floor and that’s sectioned off where—if you’re going up to the hotel and the permanent casino—you can avoid that. We have around 42 elevators in our casino.
Have any restaurant contracts been signed and with whom?
Troxel: We’re going to be doing our own, in-house restaurants, with no outside chains.
Kilroy: We feel that Delaware North, with the Patina Group—they run restaurants all around the country—there’s the expertise there to develop these restaurants and be branded to the the Catawba-Two Kings and be very successful.
White: Patina Group is a subsidiary of Delaware North and that is a premier restaurant group that operates in New York, Los Angeles and quite a few with Disney, both Epcot, Disney Springs, and in Disney World and downtown Disney.
What other non-gaming amenities are planned?
Kilroy: There will be some reach-out. Of course, restaurants are going to be the main feature. When we open there will be a nice steakhouse that will be two levels. Also on two levels will be the showcase feature, a wine-storage enclosure that is designed by Wine Enthusiast. Then there’s an Italian restaurant and one of the features there will be—front-facing to the customer—authentic pizza baking. There will be a 24-hour café and six outlets in our marketplace. All of these restaurants will be up 90 feet in the air and have an outdoor view of the mountains. It just looks terrific out that way.
How many hotel rooms will you offer and what will they be like?
Troxel: Right now it’s 385 and we have …
Kilroy: … 10 main suites on the penthouse level and 86 corner suites, I believe.
What sort of optionality do you have for expansion?
Troxel: We’re always looking for what the next stage or phase is. We’re actually looking into that right now.
What is the timeline for the introductory casino and the full, permanent one?
Troxel: The introductory casino is going to open about the spring of 2026 and the permanent casino in spring of 2027, with the hotel opening a few months after.
Image: Chuck Kilroy, Brian Hansberry and Trent Troxel
What would be your message to people who might have tried the temporary casino but don’t know about the permanent one?
Kilroy: It’s going to be a fantastic experience. Our guests have been really loyal. I’ve mentioned the friendliness, the safe, clean atmosphere. That keeps them coming. It’s always crowded here. We wanted to do something better and, with the introductory casino, we have a full bar, we’ve got a restaurant that seats 44 people and we increase by 200 machines. It’s a much better flow and a much higher ceiling. That is just the beginning. Once they get to the permanent casino it’s a world-class experience.
Trent mentioned the 42 elevators. What’s so different when you go to other casinos, you park in a garage that’s next to it. Then you have to walk and find your slot machines. Here you will be parking right underneath the casino and there will be several banks of elevators strategically planned throughout that parking lot. It’ll bring you up, right to where you want to go to. That’s something that’s unique. We don’t have to find a way to get people from one end of the casino to the other: We’ll bring them right up to it.
The views for this area, the restaurants and of course the gaming experience are just going to expand on that friendly, clean and safe vibe. When we first opened, we didn’t have people to do that who had a lot of experience in gaming. Through this time, they’ve developed that experience. The people in the area have that experience. Plus we’re attracting people from around the country that want to come here and work. It’s a great environment. They know they’re coming to a new casino. They see the potential. When we hired for table games we had people from all around the country come and want to work there. So we won’t have a problem getting experience. We can do it right and give people the best experience they can when they come here.
