Decisions taken years ago by Western states to expand Native American gaming have helped fuel the current construction boom.
By negotiating individual contracts with tribes that previously paid little or nothing to state coffers, they found a convenient way to increase revenues.
Momentum has also come from casino expansion into hotels, entertainment, events centers and meeting space. In the present slumping economy and credit-crunch climate, the planning of further large-scale resorts continues, although the press has been reporting casino layoff announcements.
California
With more than 50 Native American casinos, and the number with hotels and meeting space approaching 20, the Golden State provides a classic example of the state spurring development. Casino resorts, at one time mostly in Southern California, are spreading throughout the state.
Previously restricted to a maximum of 2,000 slot machines per tribe, the present administration in recent years has been negotiating individual “compacts” with tribes. Last February, for example, voters ratified a measure that allows the Pechanga and Morongo up to 7,500 more slots each; the Agua Caliente and the Sycuan both up to 3,000 more.
Under construction near Sacramento, and expected to open late this year, is the 2,000-slot Red Hawk Casino. If a compact signed in July is ratified by the state legislature it can have up to 5,000 slots.
Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley and the Cabazon area, with five casinos, is just one area seeing growth.
In April, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians held a grand opening for a new $300 million, 344-room resort hotel, which has 13,000 square feet of conference space adjacent to its Rancho Mirage casino. Late this year, the Agua Caliente Casino Resort & Spa will open a 2,000-seat headliner room, completing the project.
The Agua Caliente also operates the 288-room Spa Resort Casino in downtown Palm Springs.
In Coachella, the Twenty-Nine Band of Mission Indians, which operates the 1,500-slot Spotlight 29 Casino, will open a second property early next year, the 350-slot Nuwu Casino. A 125-room hotel, 1,000-seat amphitheater and golf course are planned for a second phase.
Other properties in the region include the 250-room Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, which has a 100,000-square-foot events center and new golf course, and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians’ 310-room Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, which has meeting space that includes a 12,000-square-foot ballroom.
The Temecula area has six casinos, including the 522-room Pechanga Resort & Casino, which offers more than 40,000 square feet of meeting space. The resort opened a new 18-hole Journey at Pechanaga golf course for play in August, with a grand opening scheduled for November upon completion of a 62,000-square-foot clubhouse.
The area also boasts the 507-room Pala Casino Resort & Spa in Pala, the 653-room Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort in Valley Center and the newest and smallest casino, the 349-slot Santa Isabel Casino, which opened in April last year near Lake Henshaw.
Also in Valley Center is the 1,750-slot Valley View Casino, which completed a multiyear, $114 million expansion in April with the unveiling of a 2,000-seat concert venue.
In July, the Pauma Band of Mission Indians announced it had reached an agreement with San Diego County that allows it to go ahead in partnership with Pequots Foxwoods Development Co. on a $300 million project that includes a 400-room hotel and a new and larger casino at its Pauma location off I-15.
Fifty miles north of Temecula near San Bernardino, the 2,000-slot San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino at Highland has an amphitheater that can hold 65,000 people.
With a casino and outlet center off I-8 east of San Diego, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians last March announced it had selected Marnell Corrao Associates, designers of the Bellegio and Wynn Las Vegas resorts, to design its proposed adjacent $800 Million Viejas Casino & Resort. With an expected 2012 completion, plans include a 600-room hotel, convention space, retail outlets and a second casino.
Two other notable meetings properties are also within 30 minutes of downtown San Diego: the 400-room Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino, with golf and more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 103-room Sycuan Resort & Casino, with 54 holes of golf and event space for up to 200 people.
The San Joaquin Valley is home to the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, which added 255 rooms and 6,000 square feet of meeting space in fall 2006.
In the Sacramento area, the Rumsey Band recently presented its first environmental impact statement draft for an expansion of the 200-room Cache Creek Casino Resort, which currently has 5,000 square feet of meeting space. Plans call for a new 467-room hotel and a conference center.
In August, Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Coarsegold, located near Yosemite National Park, opened a second hotel tower with 221 rooms, bringing its room total to 413, plus additional restaurants and a spa and health club.
A groundbreaking was held in July for the United Auburn Indian Community’s major expansion at its 2,700-slot Thunder Valley Casino off highway 65 in Placer County. Expected to take two years to build, the project includes a 654-room hotel, two ballrooms totaling 30,000 square feet, a 3,000-seat theater and an expanded casino.
Sonoma County last March approved the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians’ plans to build a $300 million Tuscan-style casino resort in Geyserville that would replace its 5-year-old, tent-like River Rock Casino. Included are a 260-room hotel, spa and an event/conference center.
Washington
The $130 million Tulalip Resort Hotel opened 30 miles north of Seattle in June, followed by a grand opening Aug. 12. The Tulalip Tribes’ 12-story hotel near Marysville features 370 rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom.
The Tulalip site also boasts a 2,300-seat amphitheater, a 2,000-slot casino and the 100-store Seattle Premium Outlets.
Slated to open late this year 27 miles east of Seattle is Casino Snoqualmie. The Snoqualmie Tribe project will feature a 1,667-slot casino, a 1,000-seat events center, five restaurants and four lounges.
North of Seattle in Arlington, the Stillaguamish Tribe has a $44 million expansion under way at its Angel of the Winds Casino that will triple its size to 106,000 square feet by year’s end.
In Grand Mound between Seattle and Portland, a grand opening was held in April for the $100 million, 398-suite Great Wolf Lodge, a partnership of Great Wolf Resorts and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis, which provided reservation land. It features a waterpark and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Chehalis also have a 15,000-square-foot addition under way at their Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, which features the 69-room Lucky Eagle Hotel with meeting facilities for up to 80 people. To be completed later this year, the expansion includes a new events center, a bingo hall, a 300-seat buffet and six new function rooms.
In the north at Omak, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation held a groundbreaking in July on a $24 million casino. After it opens next year, its present casino will become a bingo hall. A later phase calls for a hotel and conference center.
Ten minutes from Spokane in Northern Heights, the $180 million first phase of an expansion of the Kalispel Tribes’ Northern Quest Resort and Casino is slated to open by December. It includes a 300-room hotel and meeting space.
Three other casinos, all with meeting space, have expanded in the last two years: the Suquamish Tribe’s Clearwater Casino Resort Hotel & Spa on Puget Sound, with an 85-room hotel; north of Bellingham, the Lummi Nation with a 105-room hotel at Silver Reef Hotel, Casino & Spa; and north of Olympia, the Squaxin Island Tribe added a 98-room hotel to its Little Creek Casino Resort.
In the Tacoma area, the Puyallup Tribe in December expanded the gaming area of the 140-room Emerald Queen Casino Hotel, doubling its number of slots to 1,500.
Among other casino resorts with substantial meeting space are the 103-room Skagit Valley Casino Resort in Bow and the 150-room beachfront Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Ocean Shores.
Oregon
Seven of the Beaver State’s nine Indian casinos have hotels and meeting space and five have either completed expansions, have them under way or are about to start construction.
In Coos Bay, Mill Casino & Hotel in July added a new 92-room hotel tower with meeting rooms to its existing 112-room lodge, 700-slot casino and 12,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
The 147-room Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino in Canyonville, which offers 22,000 square feet of meeting space, has a $40 million expansion under way set for a spring 2009 opening that includes 154 guest rooms and a 7,000-square-foot spa.
Last December, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and the Siuslaw unveiled the new $56 million Three Rivers Casino & Hotel in Florence. It offers a 650-slot casino four times the size of the former temporary facility, a 93-room hotel, five new restaurants and an 8,500-square-foot multipurpose events center.
In Willamina, 65 miles southwest of Portland, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are building a complex that will include an events and entertainment center and additional conference space adjacent to their 254-room Spirit Mountain Casino, which has 5,000 square feet of meeting space.
Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Pendleton is starting work on an expansion that will double the size of its hotel to 200 rooms, add more casino space and a new 1,500-seat multipurpose event center. Owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the facility has golf and 18,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Cowlitz Tribe is planning a casino resort in La Center, 25 miles north of Portland, that will include a 250-room hotel, a casino, restaurants and 147,500 square feet of convention and entertainment facilities. A final environmental impact statement was released in May and the tribe is awaiting a decision from the Interior Department on its request for 152 acres acquired for the project to be proclaimed reservation land.
Among other casino resorts are, in Lincoln City, the oceanfront 308-room Chinook Winds Casino with 35,000 square feet of meeting space, and in Warm Springs, the 139-room Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino with 15,000 square feet.
Arizona
The Grand Canyon State has more than 20 casinos.
The newest casino hotel, the $100 million Desert Diamond Casino & Hotel near Tucson International Airport, opened in November last year. The Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise property features a 150-room hotel, 9,900-square feet of meeting space and a larger casino.
Near Scottsdale, the new Casino Arizona Resort & Spa is taking shape. Expected to open in early 2010, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community project will feature a 497-room hotel, 13,000-square-foot spa and 50,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including a 24,000-square-foot ballroom and a similar amount for outdoor events. The tribe currently operates two Casino Arizonas in the Scottsdale area.
Near Phoenix, the Gila River Indian Community last November broke ground on the $200 million Wild Horse Pass Casino & Hotel. Expected to open next May, it will include a 100,000-square-foot casino, a 241-room hotel with conference facilities and a 1,200-seat entertainment venue.
The new casino resort will replace its existing Wild Horse Pass Casino, one of three casinos on its reservation, which is also home to a meetings resort standout, the 500-room Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Hotel, which has two 18-hole golf courses. The Sheraton is building a new 38,960-square-foot ballroom, slated to open next spring.
In Fountain Hills near Scottsdale, the 3-year-old, 240-room Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino delivers 25,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including an 18,000-square-foot ballroom. The Yavapai tribe, which owns the hotel, opened a second 18-hole championship golf course, the Saguaro, in December 2006.
Among other Arizona meetings options are the 146-room Harrah’s Phoenix Ak-Chin in Maricopa; the 80-room Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde, north of Phoenix; the 128-room Hon-Dah Resort Casino & Conference Center in Pinetop in the White Mountains; and the Apache Gold Casino Resort in San Carlos, with a 146-room Best Western hotel and golf.
New Mexico
The new Buffalo Thunder Resort opened Aug. 12 ahead of its expected November unveiling, 12 miles north of Santa Fe at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
In addition to the new 390-room Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort & Spa at Buffalo Thunder, the resort boasts 66,000 square feet of meeting and event space, a 16,000-square-foot spa, 10 food and beverage outlets and a 1,200-slot casino.
South of Albuquerque, the Pueblo of Isleta held a grand opening in July. A 201-room hotel with 30,000 square feet of ballroom and conference space, a spa and a children’s recreational center were added to the Isleta Casino & Resort’s existing facilities, which include a 1,600-slot casino, 12,000 square feet of function space and 27 holes of golf.
Albuquerque has the 228-room Sandia Resort and Casino, almost three years old, with golf and more than 50,000 square feet of meeting space. And 15 minutes north of the city, the Santa Ana Pueblo Reservation is home to the 350-room Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, with golf and 70,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space.
Near Ruidoso, the Mescalero Apache-owned Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino has 273 rooms, golf and 40,000 square feet of meeting space.
