Local Pittsburgh dignitaries joined Rush Street Gaming CEO Greg Carlin last week to break ground on the casino’s $60 million, 219-room hotel project.
Carlin told the assembled crowd that he hopes the Rivers hotel will make Pittsburgh’s North Shore neighborhood—on the north shore of the Allegheny River near the stadiums of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates—into a year-round destination.
“I hope to have this up and running by early 2021,” said Carlin, who is CEO of Rivers as well as Rush Street.
“This will be a $60 million, 219-room four-star hotel. I stay at all the hotels on the North Shore and they’re nice, but this is going to be the nicest hotel on the North Shore, and it’s going to be a great addition to the Pittsburgh skyline.”
Carlin said that in addition to Pittsburgh locals, the hotel will cater to “people coming from out of town to make an event of coming here for one of those (sports events), or just coming here to visit this property. Plus, when you add in the type of entertainment we’re doing, it truly makes this a destination now.”
The launch of hotel construction coincides with the 10th anniversary of Rivers Pittsburgh. “It would have been nice to do it on the five-year anniversary, but we had lots of starts and stops along the way,” Carlin said. “Everything’s lined up and we’re excited to be finally started on the project. This is going to be the nicest hotel on the North Shore.”
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto joined Carlin in predicting the hotel will boost the fortunes of the North Shore.
“We’ll see a continuation in the finalization of all the development between the two stadiums,” he said.
“One of the most things exciting things here about Rivers has always been our location,” Peduto added. “We have breathtaking views of the river, Mt. Washington and the Point.”
Peduto noted that the area was once occupied by steel mills. “That was the economy back then,” he said. “As we look at a changing economy, and a diverse economy of this city, we can see that potential along this shoreway.”
The hotel project will be privately funded by Rush Street Gaming and Walton Street Capital. It is expected to produce 128 permanent new hotel and casino jobs and about 1,400 construction jobs, according to Bill Keena, the casino’s general manager. Massaro Corp. is the general contractor.
