KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — A new $1 billion casino being constructed along Interstate 85 is expected to draw additional growth to surrounding areas.
The Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort site is 35 miles from Charlotte — and just 5 miles up I-85 from the state’s border with South Carolina, where casinos aren’t allowed.
The spread will include a 24-story, 385-room hotel.
Built on a 17-acre site, the casino will open in phases, with an introductory opening in spring 2026 with 1,350 slot machines, 20 game tables, a 40-seat restaurant, a bar and sports betting kiosks.
The new space will replace the current temporary offering that’s been on site since July 2021. In 2027, the main casino complex is scheduled to open.
The main development will include 4,300 slot machines, 100 table games, 11 dining outlets, a players’ lounge, 11 bars, a parking garage with 2,700 spaces and a parking lot with 800 spaces. The casino is expected to employ more than 2,000 workers once it opens.
The hotel will be connected to the gambling area once it’s completed. Over the past 12 months, foundations for the casino complex and hotel have been completed. Steel continues to be added to the hotel tower on site. The project is being led by the Catawba Nation Gaming Authority.
Kings Mountain City Manager Todd Carpenter expects the new casino to bring growth to the area. So far, there’s no other new development happening off Exit 5 near where the site is located.
That’s expected to change.
“We are expecting development but haven’t seen it happen yet,” Carpenter said. “We are trying to plan for the influx of people and will do what we can to attract folks in terms of hotels, restaurants and entertainment. We hope to attract people to downtown and in other areas of Kings Mountain.”
Kings Mountain, a small city in both Cleveland and Gaston counties, is considered a suburb of Charlotte. Carpenter told The Post and Courier the city had already experienced some growth prior to the casino’s plans to expand.
“There are a ton of workers at the site right now,” Carpenter said of the casino’s construction site.
In Cherokee County, it’s still too soon to know what impact the development will have on the area’s economy.
Ken Moon, the Cherokee County Development Board’s executive director, said businesses located off exits near the site will initially reap the benefits of having more people traveling here for entertainment.
“I think it will have a big impact on our exits with cars coming back and forth,” Moon said. “There’s going to be construction of other hotels up there from what I understand.”
Moon suggested families at the casino may want to take day trips to other locations while there including destinations in Gaffney.
On a recent trip to the construction site, Moon said work continues to progress and there’s continued interest in the temporary casino.
“There was like over 1,000 people in those buildings (temporary casino),” Moon said. “I think as time goes by people will have interest in doing more things in Kings Mountain and Cherokee County.”
As part of the construction, the size of Dixon School Road Bridge over I-85 near the site entrance was doubled, and new sewer lines were installed near the site.