Nashua officials recently approved a proposal to replace the former Sears anchor space in the city’s Pheasant Lane Mall with a charitable casino.

The 130,000-square-foot, two-floor facility would only take a portion of the 169,000-square-foot space, with the remaining area left available for other tenants.

A lawyer for the project proponents told the Nashua Planning Board that its clients hoped to raise $4 million for charity by 2025. Following the state’s formula that 35 percent of a casino’s revenue must go to charity, and a further 10 percent must go to the state lottery to fund public education, that suggests the casino is expected to gross nearly $11.5 million annually.

The Sears store in the Simon Property Group-owned mall has been vacant since 2020.

The casino would be run by ECL Entertainment, which operates gaming facilities in Kentucky, and Toronto-based private equity firm Clairvest. Opening is slated for 2024.

The Nashua Planning Board voted 4-1, after a lengthy hearing featuring concerns about the traffic a casino would generate, to approve a conditional use permit for the casino. The project team will still need to seek a sign permit to make exterior changes to the facility, but no site changes are being made.