RENO — The management at Fitzgeralds Casino/Hotel informed employees and city and state officials on Tuesday that the entire facility, including gaming, hotel and restaurants, will close on Nov. 30 to make way for redevelopment and a new business model.

The approximately 475 employees will be laid off, according to a press release from L3 Development, which owns Fitzgeralds. The employees will remain employed until Fitzgeralds closes. Employees will be able to collect accrued vacation, roll over any 401(k) money they have accrued and will be eligible to extend their health insurance under COBRA.

“Our employees and their transition are our primary concern,” said Robert A. Cashell, Jr., president of Fitzgeralds Casino/Hotel. “We are diligently addressing as many of their concerns and needs as possible, including providing resources to assist them in their search for new employment.”

“It’s a shock to everyone,” said day shift manager Pearl Caddel. “Needless to say, I think it’s taken everyone unaware.”

“It’s kind of like a family breaking up more than anything else,” said Mark Clayton, a 12-year employee of Fitzgeralds who has worked his way up to director of public safety.

The casino’s business has slowed down, so for long-time dice dealer Pattsy Blackman the closing of Fitzgerald’s could be a “blessing in disguise.” After 30 years in the gaming business and 15 years at Fitzgeralds, Blackman said she’ll take the winter off and maybe return to another job next year.

Caddel said the Fitzgeralds sister properties — the Alamo Travel Center in Sparks and the Topaz Lodge at Topaz Lake — may be able to absorb some of the layoffs.

The property is part of L3 Development LLC’s master plan for the area. It will transition from a hotel-casino into a boutique hotel intended to compliment L3’s mixed-use development, The Montage, which is located directly across Sierra Street.

An announcement should be coming in the next four to six weeks regarding a concept for the redesigned boutique hotel, Cashell said.

Some work has already started inside Fitzgeralds, Cashell said, including upgrades to plumbing, heating, elevators and other “core items.” The real demolition will start in a few months, he said.

Cashell said this has been an extremely difficult decision for the management team. “We recognize that Fitzgeralds is a place embedded in deep history, nostalgia and significance for downtown Reno,” he said. “Many of our team members have been with Fitzgeralds for many years and each one has contributed heavily toward what made Fitzgeralds a success in its day.

“These types of decisions are painfully difficult,” Cashell added. “However, there is momentum building in the revitalization of downtown Reno and we believe that the Fitzgeralds and associated properties are critical components to continuing the redevelopment started by The Montage, and most recently by the covering of two blocks of the railway corridor by the city of Reno. It is our intention to close the property for a period of approximately 24 to 36 months.”

Since November, the Fitzgeralds ownership team has invested approximately $3 million in improvements and the acquisitions of adjacent properties.

L3’s redevelopment plans for the area call for the Fitzgeralds property, which also includes the Old Reno Casino, Reno Mercantile Building and Primm Richards property, to become a non-gaming centric boutique hotel. L3 is nearing completion of the former Golden Phoenix Hotel and Casino into The Montage, a 380-unit luxury residential and commercial development. The Montage is scheduled to open later this month.

“Taking into consideration the completion of The Montage and the initiation of the ReTRAC Plaza, it is now time for us to turn our focus on the transformation of the Fitzgerald’s collective parcel,” said Fernando Leal, managing partner of L3. “There is never a good time for people to lose their jobs, but we sincerely believe that now is the time to shift to a different business model and that the ultimate result will be a net gain in jobs and economic vitality for the community.”