Casino news source: AZ Central - http://www.azcentral.com
Casino breaks ground on 15-story resort, spa
Jane Larson
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 5, 2007 05:53 PM
Casino Arizona said Wednesday that it has started construction on a 15-story hotel and casino along the Loop 101 that managers expect to rival the Valley's brand-name resorts like Westin and Marriott.
The project includes a 497-room hotel, a 100,000-square-foot conference center, a spa and restaurants.
The 240,000-square-foot casino will be more than twice the size of the tribe's other casino, six miles south, at Loop 101 and McKellips Road.
“We're looking for a four-star-plus type of operation,'' said Russ Burbank, senior vice president of operations for Casino Arizona. “It will certainly be positioned in the market with the peer groups out there.''
The resort is due to open in early 2010.
It will be built northeast of the two temporary tents that house the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community's Indian Bend casino, Burbank said. The site covers 60 acres, and the tents will be dismantled and replaced by a parking lot when the resort and casino open, he said.
It will be operated by Casino Arizona, the tribal-owned entity that already operates the casino at McKellips and Indian Bend roads.
Diane Enos, president of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, said the resort and casino will give guests more options for entertainment and will use native materials to reflect the environment.
“Even further, this endeavor will benefit the SRP-MIC and its surrounding communities by bringing about jobs and stimulating economic growth in Arizona,'' Enos said.
1.2 million square feet
Burbank said the entire project will cover 1.2 million square feet and create an estimated 300 jobs. The hotel, casino and conference center will total 865,000 square feet, with the rest for parking garages, he said.
Burbank declined to disclose the price of the project, noting that Casino Arizona is privately held.
Casino Arizona has been planning the project for two years. Site preparation started last year, and motorists along the Loop 101 will see the parking garage rising in the next few months, Burbank said.
Steel for the project is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2008, he said.
Height limitations raised
The Indian community paved the way for the 15-story hotel in December 2005, when it voted to raise height limitations on reservation land along Loop 101. The tallest buildings in nearby Scottsdale are 13 stories.
The community held a groundbreaking in December 2006 for the hotel-casino's three-story parking garage.
Chanen Construction Co. of Phoenix is building the project, which was designed by FFKR Architects of Salt Lake City.
The resort-casino will join at least five business parks being built or expanded on tribal land in the Loop 101 corridor between Via Linda and McKellips Road. Burbank said a traffic study was done on the project and that changes such as intersection improvements have been incorporated in the design.
Burbank said Casino Arizona expects the combination of a casino with a resort hotel will give it a competitive advantage in the Valley's massive tourism market. “We look at this as if it was just another strong competitor entering the market, like another Westin or Marriott,” he said. A sales team has started pursuing bookings for the conference center, and the first booking could come within days, Burbank said.
Partners with Scottsdale
Laura McMurchie, spokeswoman for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the resort-casino will bring in assets like the concert and meeting space. The bureau has a partnership agreement with the Indian community to help market its properties to Scottsdale visitors.
“Quite honestly, we see this as a good addition to what we have in Scottsdale,'' McMurchie said.
Greg Malark, chief operating officer of Scottsdale-based meeting-planning firm HelmsBriscoe Inc., agreed there is room in the market for Casino Arizona's project.
“One of the biggest challenges we have is finding not just sleeping rooms but meeting space,'' he said. “There has traditionally been a shortage of meeting space in the city, so this will be a good thing.''
Some groups, such as corporations seeking to keep their meetings low key or their attendees focused on topics such as training, do not want to book meetings at gaming facilities, Malark said.
But others, such as those seeking plenty of amenities that will attract attendees paying their own way to meetings, are attracted to resorts with casinos, he said.
The short-term outlook for the hotel industry may be uncertain because of the economy, but the long-term view is “very, very solid” for metro Phoenix and the region, Malark said. |
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