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An expansion of the Sheraton Nashua Hotel in New Hampshire, which would add Gate City Casino, four restaurants, a parking garage and more, was approved by the Planning Board.
The Nashua Planning Board’s approval came after a two-and-a-half-hour discussion that centered largely on a traffic study not available at the board’s earlier April 2 meeting.
Attorney John Weaver, representing developer Delaware North, told the board the wait for the completed analysis produced a stronger outcome.
“The result is much better traffic design; it’s better for the applicant, it’s better for the guests to the applicant’s property, it’s better for the city,” he said.
The $5 million infrastructure investment targets Tara Boulevard, its intersection with Spit Brook Road and access points to Route 3, with plans for widened roadway sections and reworked entrance and exit ramps.
Aside from the traffic, the developer addressed additional infrastructure and safety commitments raised by neighbors during public comment, including impacts on property values, neighborhood character, and stormwater and water treatment.
Weaver said casino ownership is prepared to cover the cost of a third patrol officer for the area or fund a new police substation.
Seth Anderson of Kimley-Horn told the board that three water treatment stations will be added on-site to manage stormwater and drainage, with the development team working alongside city and state regulators to meet requirements.
Five votes authorize casino relocation and construction
With the traffic and infrastructure questions resolved, the board proceeded to five separate votes authorizing the project.
These included a conditional use permit allowing Gate City Casino to move from 55 Northeastern Boulevard to the hotel property at 11 Tara Boulevard, final approval of the Phase 1 site plan, conditional approval of the Phase 2 site plan, developer-requested waivers and a definition of “active and substantial development.”
Board member Joe MacIntyre raised the scale of the project in response to developer representatives who described the change as a relocation of the existing casino.
“This is a significant impact situation,” he said, noting that gaming space will grow by 300%. “It’s massive,” MacIntyre said. “It’s going to be a totally different place when this is all done.”
Gate City General Manager Ernie Dellaverson told the board that a large portion of the project’s total square footage comes from the four restaurants and the parking garage rather than gaming space alone.
Construction phases add restaurants and parking capacity
Delaware North, filing as ARBI Farms LLC, will build the expansion on land currently used as a parking lot at the hotel. The Buffalo, New York-based hospitality company also owns TD Garden in Boston among its venues.
Phase 1 includes 65,900 square feet of gaming area and a five-story, 293,479-square-foot parking garage with 865 spaces. Expected to be completed next year, the two-story addition will also include a steak house with private dining and a separate employee dining area.
Phase 2, projected to begin in 2030, adds 26,960 square feet of gaming space and 187,399 square feet of parking garage space, contributing 425 more spaces. Once complete, the project will offer 1,700 total parking spaces — 1,445 in the garage and 225 on the surface. The second phase also introduces a full-service restaurant with an expanded menu, a sports bar and an Asian noodle bar.
Once the full expansion concludes in five years, the property — currently the Sheraton Nashua and set to become Gate City Casino Hotel — will carry an additional 92,860 square feet of gaming space and 480,878 square feet of structured parking.
The 357-room, seven-story hotel was built in 1979 on former farm and orchard land and operated originally as the Sheraton Tara before an earlier expansion in 1990.
New construction will occupy parking lot space on the hotel’s south side, with parking maintained between the two wings so the building remains visible from the Everett Turnpike, part of US Route 3 and a major entry point into New Hampshire from Massachusetts.
A conditional use permit for charitable gaming on the property was first approved in May 2022 to convert the hotel ballroom into casino space, but that approval was extended and later expired unused. Weaver told the board in April that owners decided instead to keep the ballroom as event space and place the casino within new construction.
Dellaverson said the relocation will raise the casino’s machine count to a range of 600-700, up from 450-550, along with an increase in gaming tables.