The proposed 11-story hotel will have 194 rooms, while the four-floor parking garage will have spaces for about 1,000 vehicles.
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“We’re always looking to see how we can expand our business and one of the main ways that a project such as this increases our ability to expand is to expand our business outside of the Dayton-Cincinnati areas,” said Domenic Mancini, MVG president and general manager.
“We feel that without the hotel we couldn’t really reach out to areas such as Columbus (and) Indianapolis. Even parts of Kentucky and Indiana were difficult that were over a two-and-a-half-hour drive, maybe even longer.”
Miami Valley Gaming features 1,900 gaming machines, two bars, a 5/8-mile harness racetrack with indoor grandstand, a racing simulcast center and four dining options. The new restaurant will have the capability and capacity to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner plus handle room service needs for the hotel, Mancini said.
The 186,00-square-foot racino, which is owned jointly by Delaware North and Churchill Downs Inc., opened in December 2013 with about 1,500 video lottery terminal gaming machines and now has 1,900 VLTs.
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The facility, which added 25,000 square feet during a 2017 expansion, would add another 10,000 square feet of gaming floor space under the proposed expansion.
That would bring total gaming space, including indoor gaming and two outdoor gaming patios, to approximately 90,000 square feet and allow MVG to add up to add up to 250 VLTs, bringing the total units in operation to about 2,200.
MVG has experienced parking constraints on busy weekends and holidays for months now, and the addition of the garage will help address that, boosting parking from 3,093 spots to as much as 3,900, Mancini said.
The racino employs more than 450 workers and is seeking to fill nearly 50 full- and part-time positions, including buffet and fine dining cooks, dishwashers, special event attendants, security officers, IT network and system engineers and gaming technicians.
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The expansion is projected to create approximately 300 jobs during construction and approximately 100 permanent positions when complete in the first half of 2021, according to MVG officials.
Since its first day in business in late 2013, Miami Valley Gaming has been “an outstanding asset for Warren County, and really a key cog in our tourism landscape,” according to Scott Hutchinson, spokesman for the Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“They’ve been growing and upgrading their facility each and every year, so it almost feels like it was only a matter of time before an expansion of this magnitude would make sense,” Hutchinson said. “We’re very proud of all of the local entertainment, lodging and restaurant options we already have to offer Warren County visitors, so it goes without saying that a development like this that would provide a boost in all three of those areas would be especially exciting.”
Mancini said MVG looks forward to working with our state and local leaders to turn the proposal into reality.
“There are a number of incentives on the table that we’re working through right now,” he said.
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Since opening, the racino has delivered more than $270 million in gaming taxes to the Ohio Lottery and $83 million in taxes to the Ohio Harness Horseman’s Association, MVG officials said.
Its growth is “a testament to their strong leadership and a thriving market in Warren County,” according to Matt Schnipke, director of the Warren County Office of Economic Development
The expansion will provide new amenities to the fast-growing I-75 corridor along Ohio 63 and help draw visitors to enjoy Miami Valley Gaming’s facilities, as well as other attractions in the county, Schnipke said.
“That results in outside dollars being spent in Warren County and providing a positive impact to the local business community,” he said.
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Warren County welcomes more than 12 million visitors each year, many of whom spend time gaming, dining and enjoying events at MVG, Hutchinson said. Tourism also generates approximately $1.2 billion in economic impact each year for the county, a figure MVG’s expansion would only increase, he said.
The expansion will be designed and developed by Missouri-based architecture-firm Thalden Boyd Emery, which designed the existing MVG facility.
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