MGM National Harbor is a

casino hotel A casino hotel is an establishment consisting of a casino with temporary lodging provided in an on-premises hotel. Customers receive the benefits of both gambling facilities and lodging. Since the casino and hotel are located on the same premis ...

National Harbor, Maryland National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront devel ...

, just outside of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It opened on December 8, 2016, constructed at a cost of $1.4 billion. It is owned by

Vici Properties Vici Properties Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in casino properties, based in New York City. It was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Caesars Entertainment Corporation as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. It own ...

and operated by

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...

History

MGM Resorts International received a license in December 2013 to develop a $925-million resort (later increased to $1.2 billion) in National Harbor. The company received the license after competing with bids from

Penn National Gaming Penn Entertainment, Inc., formerly Penn National Gaming, is an American entertainment company and operator of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming. It operates 43 properties in 20 states, online sports betting in 14 jurisd ...

to develop a $700-million facility at its

Rosecroft Raceway Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosec ...

and Greenwood Racing to develop a $761-million facility near

Maryland Route 210 Maryland Route 210 (MD 210) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Indian Head Highway, the highway runs from Potomac Avenue in Indian Head north to the District of Columbia boundary in Forest Heights, where the highway co ...

. Construction on MGM National Harbor began in April 2014. It opened on December 8, 2016. In September 2017, MGM Growth Properties purchased the land and buildings of MGM National Harbor from MGM Resorts International for $1.2 billion in a

leaseback Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done f ...

transaction.

acquired MGM Growth, including MGM National Harbor, in 2022.

Incidents

MBE participation

In April 2015, the MGM casino was sued by a group of Prince George's County businesses who claimed the casino didn't comply with

minority business enterprise Minority business enterprise (MBE) is an American designation for businesses which are at least 51% owned, operated and controlled on a daily basis by one or more (in combination) American citizens of the following ethnic minority and/or gender (e. ...

(MBE) contracting standards.

Child electric shock

On June 26, 2018, a seven-year-old girl suffered

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic b ...

while visiting the casino. Due to a faulty installation of a device meant to control the electrical flow to the rail lighting, Zynae Green suffered an electric shock and was left requiring the use of a wheelchair. Despite the family's pleas for help, MGM security did not initiate resuscitation, MGM stating "the guards followed protocol responding to the incident and determined that Zynae was breathing and did not need CPR". Prince George's County Police Officers started resuscitation upon arrival. The incident prompted an FBI investigation and the family has not been compensated more than a year after the incident.

Cheating

In 2019, a

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

dealer who worked at the casino was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a cheating scheme. Ming Zhang showed his co-conspirators cards before they were dealt, who split the winnings with him.

Boxing death

Russian boxer

Maxim Dadashev Maxim Kaibkhanovich Dadashev (russian: Максим Каибханович Дадашев; lez, Дадашрин Къаибханан хва Максим; September 30, 1990 – July 23, 2019) was a Russian boxer who competed in the light-wel ...

died on July 23, 2019, from injuries suffered during a July 19 boxing match at the Theater at MGM National Harbor.

Robbery of winners

In 2020, two winners were robbed of more than $40,000 in winnings after leaving the casino and shot during the crime. The victims were followed by the assailants from the casino and robbed in Woodbridge, Virginia, where one of them lived and the other was shot. In another 2020 incident, a casino patron and hotel guest was shot and robbed of his casino winnings. After returning to his room in the hotel portion of the facility, Nathaniel Nagbe opened the door to find two armed men accompanied by a woman he knew. After he refused to open the hotel safe that contained more than $60,000 in winnings, Nagbe was shot in his stomach and fled down 17 flights of stairs before a valet called 911.

Design

The white exterior of the building is in keeping with the marble used in many of the buildings in Washington DC. The organization of the casino is along a central axis, similar to the arrangement for the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

. The design was provided by

HKS, Inc. HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas (USA). History The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith. In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mex ...

while the architect of record for the project is

SmithGroupJJR SmithGroup is an international architectural, engineering and planning firm. Established in Detroit in 1853 by architect Sheldon Smith, SmithGroup is the longest continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the United States that ...

Features

MGM National Harbor includes a 23-story hotel with 308 rooms, in gaming space, retail space, a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

, seven restaurants, a 3,000-seat

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

with seven VIP suites, of meeting and event space, and a

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

for 4,800 cars. The resort's public spaces feature a permanent collection of art inspired by the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

and developed in collaboration with Prince George's County Arts and Humanities Council, Atlantic Arts, and RareCulture. Artists, sculptors, and photographers featured in the collection include

Alice Aycock Alice Aycock (born November 20, 1946) is an American sculptor and installation artist. She was an early artist in the land art movement in the 1970s, and has created many large-scale metal sculptures around the world. Aycock's drawings and sculp ...

Charles Hinman Charles Hinman born 1932 in Syracuse, New York is an Abstract Minimalist painter, notable for creating three-dimensional shaped canvas paintings in the mid-1960s. Early years Charles Hinman was born in 1932, in Syracuse, New York. He initiate ...

, Chul Hyun Ahn,

John Safer John H. Safer (September 6, 1922 – December 7, 2018) was an American sculptor. Safer's varied career spanned work in Stage lighting, theater lighting, television, real estate, politics and banking. Safer was best known for his monumental scu ...

, Liao Yibai, Margaret Boozer,

Martha Jackson Jarvis Martha Jackson Jarvis (born 1952) is an American artist known for her mixed-media installations that explore aspects of African, African American, and Native American spirituality, ecological concerns, and the role of women in preserving indige ...

Sam Gilliam Sam Gilliam ( ; November 30, 1933 – June 25, 2022) was an American color field painter and lyrical abstractionist artist. Gilliam was associated with the Washington Color School, a group of Washington, D.C.-area artists that developed a form ...

, and Terry O'Neill. The west entrance to the facility features a iron archway composed of "found objects" such as farming tools, children's toys, wheels and axes designed by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

External links

References

{{end Casinos in Maryland Tourist attractions in Prince George's County, Maryland MGM Resorts International 2016 establishments in Maryland Casino hotels Hotels in Maryland Resorts in Maryland Casinos completed in 2016 Hotel buildings completed in 2016 Oxon Hill, Maryland