Catawba Indian chief reveals when first part of $1 billion NC casino will open
The first part of the Catawba Indians’ $1 billion North Carolina casino will open over the next two months, Chief Brian Harris said in a recent online update of tribal construction projects.
“February and March, we’re opening up the 80,000-square-foot introductory casino,” Harris said in a video on the tribe’s Facebook page. “So we’re going to be out of all of those trailers, and we’re going to repurpose those 61 trailers.”
The first-floor introductory casino will include 1,350 slot machines, 22 table games, a 68-seat restaurant, an 18-seat bar, sports betting kiosks and a rewards desk, tribal officials said during a “topping off” ceremony for the $1 billion casino in Kings Mountain in October.
At the ceremony, officials targeted “spring” for the opening of the introductory casino, offering no specific month.
The introductory casino will replace the current, single-story one that opened in July 2021. The trailers make up the existing casino.
The $1 billion Catawba Two Kings Casino is under construction off Interstate 85 exit 5, about 35 miles west of Charlotte.
The casino building also will include three levels of covered parking, a back-of-house level and a top story with the main casino floor and restaurants.
A 24-story, 385-room hotel will connect to the casino.
The overall, two-million-square-foot casino is scheduled to open in spring 2027, including the hotel; 4,300 slot machines; 100 table games; and 11 dining outlets, including a steakhouse, Italian restaurant, a marketplace with six venues, a café and a grab-and-go outlet, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The casino also will have a players lounge; 11 bars, including a center bar and a sports bar; and 3,500 parking spaces, consisting of a 2,700-space underground parking garage and 800 surface parking spaces.
The tribe is based in Rock Hill.
“For our citizens”
As the opening of the introductory casino nears, Harris said, “believe it or not, we never applied to be state-recognized in North Carolina. So in 2026, we’ve already got all of the paperwork turned in. We’ve done our due diligence. We gave them everything: how they want it, where they want it.”
The tribe also plans to open a satellite government office in the Tar Heel State “for our citizens in North Carolina,” Harris said.
And the tribe plans to introduce legislation in South Carolina this year to give it first dibs on opening a casino in the state, Harris said.
“Our bill is going to propose to give us — as the federal government promised us back in the day — a leg up on any other casino coming into the state of South Carolina,” he said. “And if they don’t, we’re going to file federal lawsuits, and we’ll keep gaming out of South Carolina until the cows come home.”
At the October ceremony, Harris said the Catawba plan to open a second casino, and have a location, but he was no more specific.
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 2:34 PM.