Casino news source: Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com
N.O. casino expansion planned
Pinnacle to put $145M into Boomtown N.O.
By ALAN SAYRE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS - Pinnacle Entertainment is planning a $145 million expansion of its New Orleans-area riverboat casino complex that will have a new gambling boat and a more-luxurious hotel than the company originally intended to build.
The new boat for the Boomtown New Orleans will be modeled after Pinnacle's L'Auberge du Lac casino in Lake Charles, which has been a major hit with gamblers since it opened in May 2005, easily becoming that market's top-grossing casino, Pinnacle said Wednesday.
The Boomtown New Orleans is in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey and competes with Harrah's Entertainment's land casino in downtown New Orleans and the Treasure Chest dockside riverboat casino, owned by Boyd Gaming, in Kenner. Harrah's opened a hotel with 450 rooms and suites adjacent to its casino in September. The Treasure Chest does not have a hotel.
Pinnacle previouslysaid it planned to add a 200-room hotel to its Harvey complex. However, those plans were upgraded Wednesday to what the company called four-star accommodations that would have a pool area, spa and salon. Pinnacle also plans to expand its nightclub and add an Asian restaurant and more meeting space.
The Boomtown New Orleans has seen a sharp increase in gambling revenue since Katrina wiped out the Mississippi Gulf Coast gambling market and chased away a fourth riverboat in New Orleans. Although the once-astronomical, post-storm growth has tapered since the reopening of casinos in Biloxi, the Boomtown won $14.4 million from players in October. Before the storms, the casino generally won in the range of $9 million to $10 million a month.
"We're excited to be part of the renaissance of New Orleans with a major new investment in the region," Pinnacle chairman Daniel Lee said in a statement issued by the company.
Las Vegas-based Pinnacle has been the most-active player in Louisiana's casino business since hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In addition to its Lake Charles and Harvey properties, the company has a hotel-dockside casino in Bossier City and other casinos in Nevada, Indiana, Argentina and the Bahamas.
In a $70 million deal approved earlier this year, Pinnacle bought both riverboat casino licenses of the Harrah's complex in Lake Charles, which was heavily damaged by Rita, in exchange for Pinnacle's Katrina-devastated casino in Biloxi, Miss. Pinnacle plans to use one of the licenses for a second casino resort in Lake Charles and the other to bring a third riverboat casino to Baton Rouge.
Andy Holtmann, editor of the Casino Journal, said the company's plan in Harvey "can't hurt" in the face of stiffening competition from the Biloxi area that is featuring large resort-type casinos with gambling facilities on the shore.
"That will be a really good project for them," Holtmann said. "There hasn't been much interest in Louisiana outside of Pinnacle. This could be a really smart move." |
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