New casino resorts coming
This is a pretty impressive article. Looks like we're finally going to get some quality casino resorts in the state, instead of the trailor redneck casinos we've had in the past.
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"Casino planned near Chandler
By Tony Thornton
The Oklahoman
CHANDLER - Competition for Oklahoma City-area gamblers intensified Monday with the announcement of another tribal casino resort project.
Ponca Indians plan new casino
A business partner for the Iowa Tribe said it will develop and manage a proposed casino, hotel and golf course. The project is to be built on recently purchased land along historic Route 66, about seven miles west of Chandler.
Expected to open in early 2007, the planned casino will feature 1,500 electronic games, 40 table games and a poker room, plus restaurants and bars. The master plan includes a golf course and hotel, with child care and an arcade.
Lakes Entertainment of Minneapolis, Minn., said it will receive 30 percent of the profits in return for managing the venture. The company also is to receive a development fee equaling 2 percent of the total project cost, plus an undisclosed monthly fee for 10 years.
The new casino is the fifth largest proposal announced within 30 miles of Oklahoma City. Each is near an interstate or turnpike exit.
The Chickasaw Nation recently announced plans to invest $80 million in upgrades at existing casinos near Newcastle and Norman, along Interstate 44 and Interstate 35, respectively.
West of Shawnee, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is building an 80,000-square-foot casino and 240-suite hotel at Interstate 40 and State Highway 102.
Earlier this month, the Sac & Fox Nation announced plans to swap land with the state School Land Trust and build a casino, movie theater and hotel along the Turner Turnpike near Chandler. That proposed project is about 10 miles from the Iowa Tribe site announced Monday.
The projects can be attributed, at least in part, to Oklahoma voters' approval in November of a state question allowing card games and faster forms of electronic gambling at tribal casinos. The new law also allows certain machines at three horse tracks.
State Finance Director Scott Meacham, the state's main negotiator with tribes and the horse-racing industry, said he isn't surprised by the tribes' rush to capture the metropolitan market.
"We did feel that we might see some tribes try to serve the Oklahoma City area because the tribes see that now that they have card games, they have a more attractive offering," Meacham said.
Besides the larger Iowa Tribe project, Lakes Entertainment also plans to expand and manage that tribe's 200-machine casino at Perkins. The company would receive 30 percent of that casino's increased revenues, said Tim Cope, company president and chief financial officer.
Based at Perkins, the Iowa Tribe has about 500 enrolled members. Its jurisdictional area includes the western half of Lincoln County and smaller parts of Pottawatomie, Logan and Payne counties.
A tribal employee said the only official allowed to discuss the venture was traveling Monday and unavailable for comment.
The project is to be built on 65 acres the tribe bought within the past month from Alvin Tall Bear and his relatives, said Tall Bear's wife, Johnnie.
The tribe paid more than $500,000 but less than the family's asking price of $650,000, she said.
Lakes Entertainment has development and management agreements with six tribes in four states, including one other Oklahoma tribe.
In January, the company announced plans to build a casino resort for the Pawnee Nation on the grounds of the old Chilocco Indian School. The agreement also calls for the company to operate two smaller gaming centers for that tribe.
The company told the Securities and Exchange Commission it expects to make $2.5 million to $3 million a year in development fees from its 10-year deal with the Pawnee Nation.
Its management fee would be the same as with the Iowa Tribe: 30 percent of net profits. "
Originally Posted by toonsey33
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