The riverboat casino that has anchored the Harvey Canal since 1994 is about to come ashore for good. PENN Entertainment plans to spend $195 million converting Boomtown New Orleans into a land-based facility called Hollywood Casino New Orleans, ditching the vessel format entirely and building a 140,000-square-foot casino near the current riverboat at 4132 Peters Road in Harvey, Louisiana.
The new facility, expected to open in 2029 next to the property’s existing hotel, will include 875 slot machines, 45 table games, a retail sportsbook, a VIP lounge, and several restaurants and bars, including a steakhouse, according to NOLA.com. It will employ 475 workers once operational, and the current riverboat will be vacated once the new casino opens, per the same report. The project still requires regulatory approval before construction can move forward.
PENN Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Jay Snowden framed the Harvey conversion as the company’s fourth landside relocation project nationally, following similar moves in Aurora and Joliet, Illinois, and a planned conversion in Council Bluffs, Iowa, set for 2028, according to Stock Titan. Kathryn Jenkins said, per the NOLA.com report, that PENN is proud to make a significant investment in Jefferson Parish and create a destination serving guests and the community for years.
A Statewide Shift Off the Water
Boomtown’s transition follows a wave of similar projects across Louisiana made possible by a 2018 change in state law allowing floating casinos to relocate within a quarter mile of their riverboat berth, per NOLA.com’s reporting. Under the version of that law detailed by Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann L.L.C., riverboats gained the ability to move up to 1,200 feet onshore from their berthing facilities, trading the old 30,000-square-foot gaming space cap for a new limit of 2,365 gaming positions…