The iconic Hampton Beach Casino will soon be torn down to make way for what developers say will be a luxurious new hotel, casino, entertainment venue and condo complex designed to withstand rising sea levels.
The estimated $600 million project is being developed by property owners Lupoli Companies and Fred Schaake. It will nearly double the capacity of the existing Casino Ballroom entertainment venue and modernize the facilities at 169 Ocean Blvd.
The developers have said they hope to make Hampton Beach a year-round destination.
“The proposed improvements respect the Casino Ballroom’s history while providing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the town of Hampton to gain a significant influx of investment into the heart of the cherished Hampton Beach area,” they wrote in a September application to the Hampton Planning Board.
The Planning Board approved the project in November 2025. Demolition is expected to begin in September, according to planning documents, and construction will take about three years.
Most of the complex was built in the mid-1920s and has deteriorated over the years to the point where it has “reached the end of its useful life,” the developers wrote in their application to the Planning Board. In addition to the Aces & Eights Charitable Gaming Casino and the Casino Ballroom, the approximately 4.5-acre property houses retail and restaurant space and a parking lot.
The planned two- to six-story project is expected to include a hotel with 208 rooms, a new Casino Ballroom entertainment venue with a capacity of 3,500 people, a pool and spa, and 99 luxury condominiums. It will also feature retail and restaurant space, and a parking garage will accommodate 732 vehicles.
The developers said they will incorporate flood-resistant design elements to protect the new construction from rising sea levels, including elevating gathering spaces, parking, and utility and mechanical equipment above flood levels.”
More than a century of history
The Casino Ballroom first opened in 1899, according to its website. Over its history, the 2,200-capacity venue has hosted big names from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to The Who and Janis Joplin. It was purchased by Schaake’s father, Fred Schaake Sr., in the 1970s.
Because the casino and venue are significant to the town’s history, the developers have agreed to safeguard the memory of the original structure by photographing key parts of the building and preserving historical artifacts from within it. The town has encouraged the developers to incorporate these elements into the new building, but the designs have not yet been finalized.
During the three-year construction period, the casino, venue and parking lot will be closed for upcoming summer seasons, beginning in 2027. Some business owners along the popular Hampton Beach boardwalk told the Portsmouth Herald that they worried about how business would be affected without a major tourist draw.
Others, however, said they understood the necessity of the redevelopment for guaranteeing the town’s future.
“What do they say? ‘You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs?’” Tom McGuirk, owner of McGuirk’s Ocean View hotel and restaurant, told the Herald. “I think people have to recognize that.”
A fiscal impact analysis commissioned by the developers estimated that the development project could generate $3.65 million in new property taxes annually upon opening, as well as between $6.2 million and $9.9 million in charitable donations from casino revenue.
The same report estimated that each of the 99 condominiums would be valued at $1.1 million.
To support road improvements in the area, Lupoli Companies has agreed to contribute approximately $435,431 to the town as part of the development agreement.
Lupoli Companies is the corporate empire of real estate and pizza magnate Sal Lupoli, founder of Sal’s Pizza. Since opening his first pizza shop in Salem, New Hampshire, in 1990, Lupoli has grown to complete a number of major development projects, such as the Riverwalk Innovation District in Lawrence, Thorndike Exchange in Lowell and Andover Medical Center. The company is also currently developing a 46-acre mixed-use district in Littleton known as King Street Crossing.
