Grand Villa Casino intends to add 200 more slots to its 1,000 total - but will have to wait until city hall gives the OK.
Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Ltd. has applied to Burnaby for a rezoning application to up its total 1,000 slot machine count up to 1,200 at Grand Villa on Dominion Street.
"The British Columbia Lottery Corporation has submitted correspondence to the city indicating that it has reviewed the gaming demand in the City of Burnaby, and has determined that the Grand Villa Casino could support the proposed increase in slot machines," according to the city staff report.
The maximum number of gaming tables would stay the same - at 86.
The Grand Villa Casino/Delta Burnaby Hotel complex includes a two-storey casino, a 23-storey hotel tower with 200 guest rooms and conference/banquet facilities, three restaurants and a five-level, above ground parkade and two office buildings.
The site on Dominion and Norfolk streets has undergone quite a transformation since the 1960s, which is when the original three-storey hotel complex underwent major additions and renovations until the 1970s. That's when the 23-storey hotel was constructed.
In early 1999, council approved rezoning of an expansion to the casino located within a portion of the hotel's parkade to include 300 slot machines.
Five years later, the casino upped the ante to 700 slot machines and 40 gaming tables within an expanded gaming floor area.
Then the three-storey hotel building was demolished in 2005. The 23-storey hotel tower went under renovations and a new three-storey building with four levels of parking was attached to the tower that included a relocated casino, restaurant, sports bar and conference centre.
In 2008, a new two-storey casino opened on the site with a 64,500 square foot gaming area, 1,000 slots, 86 gaming tables and an entertainment lounge.
Burnaby council authorized staff to work with Gateway Casinos to prepare a "suitable plan of development" for a future public hearing date.
The future report will determine how much the city will receive from the rezoning.
