The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma released on Monday details about its proposed hotel and casino resort in Pope County, Arkansas.
The tribe presented its plan ahead of a special Tuesday meeting of Pope County’s Quorum Court, during which its project will reportedly receive endorsement by the court and County Judge Ben Cross.
Earlier this year, the Cherokee Nation announced that it has partnered hospitality company Legends to jointly bid for the right to build a casino in Pope County. Legends’ owners include Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Mr. Jones has gained some business power in the region through his in-laws, the Chambers family in neighboring Yell County.
The Cherokee Nation is bidding for a casino license through its Cherokee Nation Businesses holding. In a statement issued Monday, the company announced that it plans to invest $225 million in Phase One of what would operate as Legends Resort & Casino Arkansas.
The property will feature a 50,000-square-foot casino with 1,200 slot machines and 32 table games; a sportsbook within a high-end sports bar; a luxury hotel with 200 rooms, resort-style pool, spa, and fitness center; 15,000 square feet of mixed-use conference space; a 5,000-seat outdoor music venue; an RV park with 100 spots; and multiple dining outlets, including a steak house, a food hall, and a grab and go.
The Cherokee Nation and Legends say that the resort would generate $5 billion for the state in its first 10 years of operation. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 direct jobs. Developers project that the resort would take 18 months to be completed.
Big Controversy Brewing
The Cherokee Nation and Legends are pitching an ambitious project with potential to create multiple new jobs, bring millions of visitors to Pope County, and generate big money for the region and the state as a whole. However, the plan has stirred the pot massively over the weekend as reports emerged that it would receive letters of support from county officials without the previously promised transparent process.
The Cherokee/Legends project is one of five proposed casino plans for Pope County. In June, the Arkansas Racing Commission rejected all five as none of them had obtained letters of support from a county judge and county officials.
Under state law, endorsement from local officials is a necessary step that interested developers need to clear in order to be able to successfully bid for the right to operate a casino in Pope County.
One of the bidding developers – Gulfside Casino Partnership – obtained letters of support late last year from the outgoing county judge and the Mayor of Russelville. However, the new county judge – Ben Cross – vowed that he would not back a project without a public process and local voter approval.
Arkansas voters approved the development of casinos in Pope and Jefferson Counties in last November’s ballot. However, Pope County residents rejected the measure and then approved an ordinance that no casino could be built without voters approval in a countywide referendum.
Under the constitutional amendment that allowed for the development of the new casinos, bidders must obtain letters of support from the county judge and local officials. The Arkansas Racing Commission ruled later that endorsement must come from sitting officials at the time a casino license application is submitted. The Arkansas Legislature then approved an act under which only current officeholders can back one casino project or another.
Transparency
Two of the Pope County casino bidders – Warner Gaming, which has partnered Hard Rock International, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma – said over the weekend that they were informed by Judge Cross that the Cherokee Nation’s project would receive the letter of support during a special meeting of the Quorum Court scheduled for this coming Tuesday.
The latest developments in the Pope County casino selection process seriously clash with previous comments made by Judge Cross. The judge said previously that all applications would be personally reviewed by him as well as by the Quorum Court and that “in the interest of of transparency to the public, I think it would be better to have open process.”
Warner Gaming said Saturday that they were disappointed by Judge Cross’ latest actions and that they “have continually asked for a fair, open and transparent process and all of the applicants have spent a significant amount of time and money deserve this.”
Latest Comments by the Other Applicants
Warner Gaming and Gulfside reacted immediately to the Cherokee Nation’s publication of more details about its Pope County casino project. Terry Green, the co-owner of Gulfside, said Monday that as evidenced by a side-by-side comparison, their project would “create significant tax revenue and stop gaming dollars from going to casinos in Oklahoma – enabling maximum long-term benefits to Pope County.”
Gulfside Casino Partnership is proposing a significantly bigger resort. The casino license applicant plans to invest $254 million into its property. Gulfside’s River Valley Casino Resort would feature a 500-room hotel and an 80,000-square-foot casino with 90 table games and 1,900 slot machines, among other facilities. The project is expected to create 1,695 new jobs.
Bill Warner, the CEO of Warner Gaming, also commented on the latest developments. The businessman said that their project – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Arkansas – “remains willing to participate in an open evaluation process, if it is fair to all competitors. As you can see by the following comparison, the recently released Legends project fails to exceed even our original proposal.”
Mr. Warner’s statement went on that they were invited to submit a final proposal for a Pope County casino. However, Warner Gaming and Hard Rock will only submit an updated plan if Quorum Court decides “to allow for a more transparent process.”
The statement further reads that Judge Cross and the Quorum Court choosing to endorse the Cherokee Nation’s plan “does not provide for a level playing field” and that “a closed evaluation process with a pre-determined winner deprives the public of the benefits of a competitive process, and does not allow for any kind of public input as to what citizens of Pope County would like to see in a hotel/casino project.”
Warner Gaming and Hard Rock’s $230 million resort will feature a 300-room AAA Four Diamond Hotel, 41,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, a casino with 28 table games and 1,150 slot machines, a Hard Rock Live music venue, an RV park with 100 spots, a resort-style pool, a sports complex with 105,000 square feet of indoor space allocated for training, practice and games as well as for outdoor turf fields.
Hard Rock Arkansas is projected to generate $2.3 billion in economic impact for Pope County over its first 10 years and to contribute $2.7 billion to Arkansas over the same period. The property is expected to create 697 direct operational jobs, 196 indirect operational jobs, 550 direct construction jobs, and 206 indirect construction jobs.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the day’s top casino news stories
