MGM National Harbor submits detailed plans

The site plan calls for a 958,836-square-foot entertainment establishment with retail, restaurants and a 300-room hotel, on 50 acres adjacent to and south of the Capital Beltway. The facility is expected to cost us$925 million and include 3,600 slots and 140 table games, a 1,200-seat theater, 35,000 square feet of meeting space and numerous restaurants and retail.

The interior layout is subject to change. For now, per the site plan application, the theatre is 31,051 square feet, in a conventional theatre layout with all the seats facing the stage — as opposed to, say, a boxing venue. It is located in the southeast corner of the building, adjacent to an 11,323-square-foot conservatory

Prince George’s is tentatively looking at a planning board hearing on April 10, after which it would go to the county council for final review. Once the site plan is approved, MGM will have to obtain building permits before it can break ground, perhaps as soon as mid-summer. The goal is to open the casino by July 2016. With County Executive Rushern Baker solidly behind MGM and its development, expect the entitlement process to swiftly move along.

“We appreciate the county’s quick evaluation of these last important items,” Lorenzo Creighton, president of MGM National Harbor, said in a statement. “Their swift action now will help us meet our ambitious goal of opening our doors as soon as the law allows so we can begin generating revenues for the county.”
The resort, according to the state’s consultants, is projected to generate upward of $1.45 billion for the state over five years and draw roughly 17,500 visitors per day.