Hard Rock to unveil plans for Northfield Park slots-only casino

NORTHFIELD, Ohio - Two weeks after announcing its partnership with Northfield Park to operate a slots-only racino at the harness racing track, officials from Hard Rock International will unveil their plans for the 115-acre site in northern Summit County.

Northfield Park owner Milstein Entertainment partnered with Hard Rock to build and operate the $275 million gaming and entertainment center.

The slots-only casino is allowed under an agreement with the state reached last year by the owners of the four full gaming casinos Rock Gaming and Penn National, which cleared the way for video lottery terminals, or VLTs, at the state’s seven horse racing tracks.

The track must pay a $50 million licensing fee to the state and invest $150 million into the facility, which Northfield’s plan far exceeds.

The roughly 150,000 to 200,000 square foot facility will be built on property adjacent to the existing grandstand and will capitalize, Milstein said, on what Hard Rock does best.

"The Hard Rock is known for entertainment so we anticipate that music, all types of music and different types of entertainment will be an integral part of what we do going forward,” said Milstein Entertainment Chairman and CEO Brock Milstein.

The facility will be built adjacent to the existing grandstand and include a Hard Rock Café, premium steakhouse and generate around 1,000 permanent jobs and around 1,000 construction jobs.

Milstein said a hotel is not planned in the first phase of construction but does factor into Northfield’s long-term plans.