Former state senator Andy Sanborn’s plan for a 43,000-square-foot casino in Concord is moving forward with an extension to meet the city’s conditions, the first progress made on the casino project since litigation brought it to a two-year standstill.
On Wednesday, the city’s planning board voted to give developers a one-year extension for the project’s first phase, moving the approval deadline from Sept. 1 to Sept. 1, 2026.
Planning board Chair Richard Woodfin noted that, while residents sent letters requesting a hearing on the project before Wednesday’s meeting, a new hearing wouldn’t be necessary.
“The issues that were brought up in the letters that I got basically were legal issues,” Woodfin said. “Those have been resolved at the legal level. We’ve got no grounds really to pull and deny an extension.”
The project has faced push-back from some residents, particularly over its approval process. At a meeting in June 2023, Concord’s planning board approved the first phase of Sanborn’s casino project despite previously assuring the public that no vote would take place that evening.
Many residents who wanted to voice their opinions didn’t attend, believing the project would not be discussed.
As a result, two parties sued the city’s planning and zoning boards: Big Step, the company that’s partnered with Sanborn on the casino development, and Kassey Cameron, a resident who lives less than a mile from the project on Break O’ Day Drive.
The lawsuits were resolved in June, upholding the planning and zoning boards’ approval of the project.
Big Step has proposed a two-phase plan for the undeveloped land off Loudon Road, where the casino is to be built. It is located near the intersection of Loudon and Sheep Davis Roads, close to Interstate 393.
The first phase would include a gaming hall about 43,000 square feet in size, along with a restaurant and a microbrewery.
Then, in phase two, Big Step plans to expand the gaming hall and add a hotel, conference center and a parking structure.
While the project is moving forward, it remains uncertain whether Sanborn will be able to operate the casino.
In December 2023, Sanborn was given six months to shut down and sell his Concord Casino on South Main Street after an investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and the Lottery Commission found he had fraudulently obtained and misused $844,000 in federal pandemic relief funds.
Sanborn couldn’t find a buyer approved by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission within that time frame, and his gaming license was revoked.
A final pre-trial is set for Sept. 22 in the state’s criminal case against Sanborn and his business.