DANVILLE, Va. (WFXR) — Danville City Council heard updates to their agreement with Caesars for a casino Tuesday night.

Changes include an increased capital investment; the original price tag for the project was $400 million, but over the past four years that has risen to $750 million. Caesars is responsible for those costs and Virginia General Manager Chris Albrecht attributes the increase largely to the cost of construction rising since the pandemic.

The agreement also reflects a possibility that fewer people will be employed by the casino than originally planned. The 2020 agreement said the new casino would employ 1,300 people. Now, they’re promising at least 900 jobs, though the agreement notes in writing that Caesars “aims” for 1,300 jobs.

Downtown Roanoke restaurants seeing varying effects on business after pandemic

“I intend to really hire up to and around that number, but it’s just giving us that flexibility again around how we’re able to fill out our staffing,” said Albrecht.

Ken Larking, Danville City Manager, attributed the change partially to changes in the hospitality and restaurant industry over recent years.

“The workforce has changed and it’s really hard to find employees, so the industry has had to innovate and do different things and in order to serve their customers the same way that they planned to serve their customers all along, it doesn’t take as many to do it,” he said.

According to their 2020 agreement, Caesars will pay a minimum wage of $15 an hour in Danville, but now they have also agreed to pay 125% of the federal minimum wage should that become the higher pay.

Another change, the entertainment venue and conference center will be consolidated into one site, however, during a meeting on May 7, Albrecht assured that this will not change what the entertainment venue has to offer. It will still seat up to 2,500 attendees, hosting concerts and performances like those at other Caesars locations.

RELATED STORY: New Danville casino hotel to scale down number of hotel rooms

Caesars is also donating Wood Avenue to the city so it can be opened as a public street; city officials said in the meeting that this will allow for future development near the casino.

The 2020 agreement additionally included an agreement to rehabilitate the Smokestacks on the Schoolfield property as they build, but, it noted that, if Caesars found it was “not commercially feasible or practical” to keep the Smokestacks due to cost concerns, the city could choose to pay the difference to preserve them.

According to the amended agreement, “the City has agreed to pay for such excess costs, for which the current estimate is approximately $1.5 million.”

New Danville casino generates over $11M in revenue in May

With these changes, city officials also shared how much revenue has come in from the project so far. Larking estimated that Caesars has paid Danville roughly $40 million since their first upfront payment. The city is deciding how to spend the revenue based on the Investing in Danville Plan. The plan included a public survey to determine how residents wanted the money to be spent, and officials say the main three areas of focus are economic development, improving education, and addressing crime.

The council voted 8-1 to approve changes to the agreement; Madison Whittle was the only no vote.

The casino is set to be complete by the end of 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.