ECL Entertainment announces the name of its new charitable gaming venue in the former Sears building at Pheasant Lane Mall: “The Nash Casino.” This state-of-the-art facility will transform 130,000 square feet of the 180,000-square-foot, two-story building into New Hampshire’s largest charitable gaming operation.
ECL Entertainment names Pheasant Lane Mall charitable gaming venue “The Nash Casino”
ECL Entertainment has announced the name of its new charitable gaming venue in the former Sears building at Pheasant Lane Mall will be “The Nash Casino.” This state-of-the-art facility will transform 130,000 square feet of the 180,000-square-foot, two-story building into New Hampshire’s largest charitable gaming operation. Once open, it is expected to generate approximately $24 million annually for over 100 local nonprofits.
“We are thrilled to share the new brand identity for this premier gaming and entertainment venue with the greater Nashua community and beyond,” said ECL Entertainment Managing Partner Marc Falcone. “Our goal is to create a vibrant space that not only provides top-notch entertainment and drives economic growth in the region but also significantly supports the greater Nashua community through charitable contributions.”
The Nash Casino will feature a two-story sports entertainment complex with two full bars. Guests will also enjoy assorted non-gambling games and multiple distinct dining options including fine dining, casual and grab-n-go. The project is expected to create approximately 600 to 700 new career-launching jobs, contributing $22 million annually in payroll and related costs, and represents a $250 million investment in the city of Nashua.
Construction on the casino’s interior is currently underway with plans to open The Nash this coming winter. In the meantime, an employment information center will open later this summer in the mall, near the Target anchor store, to provide details and answer questions about the forthcoming venue and employment opportunities.
ECL will share additional information as it becomes available ahead of the grand opening.
In May 2023, ECL Entertainment, in partnership with Clairvest Group Inc., acquired The River Casino & Sports Bar and the Lucky Moose Casino and Tavern, both located in Nashua.
Tuscan Village prepares for 2 new restaurants
Tuscan Village developers are making preparations ahead of the opening of two local chain restaurants as the expansive mixed-use property’s build-out along Route 28 continues.
The Planning Board will hear two conditional use permit requests at its next meeting on July 23 pertaining to parking reductions and signs as casual dining spots Tavern in the Square and The Friendly Toast are projected to open in Building 1200 at a later date, according to board filings.
Building 1200, at 14 to 16 Via Toscana, is described as the “epicenter” for the Central Village’s downtown area. Furniture store West Elm and Dry Bar salon are two other businesses in the building. The Planning Board approved the building in 2022 as a mixed-use building with retail, restaurant and office uses.
Tuscan Village developers have previously requested and been granted a number of conditional use permits for reduced parking spaces for other projects during the expansive development’s evolution.
Tavern in the Square will take up 8,807 square feet in a corner suite while The Friendly Toast will occupy 4,261 square feet adjacent to it.
Developers want to reduce on-site parking requirements from 690 spaces to 659 spaces for Building 1200. The 690 on-site parking spaces were approved in its original conditional use permit, filings indicate.
Mark Gross, of Tuscan Village Development Salem, submitted an amended conditional use permit request to Planning Director Jacob LaFontaine and the Planning Board on June 27 for this purpose.
In the letter, Gross said the two new restaurants coming to Building 1200 will increase required parking for the building, but overall parking at Tuscan Village still remains below the original permit which covers all spots in the South Village and Central Village.
The Friendly Toast will have a capacity of 170 people and need 85 spots. There were 59 spots allotted for this suite in the prior approved plan. Tavern in the Square can seat 575 people and needs 288 parking spots to accommodate its capacity. The prior conditional use permit approved 134 parking spaces for the area.
A total 180 more spaces are needed when the two restaurants open. Overall, The Friendly Toast will add 26 spaces to the original approved plan while Tavern in the Square will require 154 more spaces than anticipated.
Gross will also go before the board at the meeting to discuss Tavern in the Square’s red neon signage which is connected to a time clock. The sign will be 36 square feet above the entrance, filings indicate.
Gross sent a memo to the Planning Board on June 27 detailing the sign that is permitted under Salem’s Sign Standards, but needs special design review because it is exposed neon in-lighting and involves reverse channel lettering.
Gross said the latter is unique to Tavern restaurants. — Angelina Berube, Eagle-Tribune
2024 Plan NH Merit Awards of Excellence winners
Plan NH announced its 2024 Merit Awards of Excellence, honoring outstanding building projects that incorporate good planning, design and development that have a positive impact on surrounding communities.
Winning projects were:
Brick Market, Portsmouth
Capitol Shopping Center, Concord
Mill Girl Stair Improvements Project, Manchester
Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, Nashua
The Livery, Sunapee
In addition, Plan NH honored several college students with scholarships and fellowship funds, including: Alexandra Avakova, UNH; Lilly Cassiano, Roger Williams University; Hunter Haht-Acres, Roger Williams University; Suprina Kabadkar, Rochester Institute of Technology; Emily Swift, Keene State College; Mallory Taylor, Suffolk University; Mackenzie Waterman, Stonehill College; Kei Kan, Wentworth Institute of Technology; and Siobhan Day, Belmont University.
Steeplegate Mall demolition may come before Planning Board
The next steps in Steeplegate Mall’s transition from pure retail to mixed-use will come before two Concord boards this month, including whether to allow part of the building to be torn down.
A July 10 hearing has been scheduled by the city Zoning Board concerning a number of changes to town zoning that the mall’s owners, Onyx Partners, say are needed to make their proposal succeed, and a July 17 hearing is slated before the Planning Board to allow demolition of the building.
Fencing and barriers surround parts of the sprawling structure that once was a retail hub in the city but now sits mostly vacant. Signs for New Hampshire Demolition, a company based out of Auburn, hang outside.
The Planning Board hearing concerns a requested amendment to the mall’s 1999 site plan which would allow partial demolition of the building, according to Jim Spain, chairman of the city’s Demolition Review Committee.
Unlike other Concord buildings that have been torn down recently such as the Norris House on South Main Street, the city’s Demolition Review Committee has no say in the fate of the Steeplegate Mall because it is less than 50 years old. The mall opened in 1990.
Onyx Partners have said that three current mall tenants – JC Penney, Altitude Trampoline Park and The Zoo health club – have long-term leases and will remain even as everything else owned by Onyx, including the adjoining Regal Theater building, is torn down. The stand-alone TD Bank and Applebee’s restaurant alongside the mall will not be changed by the development.
The Zoning Board meeting concerns a request for a rehearing on a number of items previously considered, including building heights, road frontage and how many parking spaces must be included.
Planning boards oversee all types of development, often within a broad idea of shaping overall development while zoning boards are focused on individual matters, usually requests to build something that isn’t allowed under local rules.
Onyx Partners, which bought the Steeplegate Mall and Regal Cinemas properties last year, has plans to build three multi-story apartment buildings holding some 600 units plus ground-floor retail, a Costco and other shops as well as the mall’s three remaining tenants.
The City Council approved more than $24 million to pay for a sewer main update and new pump station serving the Heights to improve capacity that City Manager Tom Aspell said was critical to the redevelopment of Steeplegate. Concord water and sewer ratepayers will foot that bill, not the mall’s developers.
The mall has been largely empty for several years and was closed in April 2022 except for businesses with an exterior entrance. The shuttered interior has become a popular location for self-styled “urban explorers” who break into empty or abandoned buildings and video their experience to display on social media. — David Brooks/Concord Monitor
