5700 Pacific Highway East, Fife, WA 98424. EMERALD QUEEN CASINO I-5 IN TACOMA. 2920 East R Street, Tacoma, WA 98404. Capital and Olympia High Schools Construction Continues, Despite COVID-19. Finau made his professional debut on August 10 at CageSport 58 at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma. Lugo Construction has built similar projects before, including the Puyallup Emerald Queen Casino, a large casino built in Tacoma for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Huff says. Linn Parish Editor Linn Parish has worked for newspapers and magazines since 1996, with the bulk of that time being at the Journal.
With the first month of 2020 almost over, it is important to take a moment to look ahead and examine emerging trends that may influence the casino industry this year. While last year brought about the closure of Resorts Casino Tunica and many other notable casinos, the future is looking very bright with plenty of new planned openings scheduled for this year. It should come as no surprise then too that technology is going to continue to play a major role in the casino industry. Therefore, here are some new openings and technology trends to be on the lookout for in 2020.
New Casinos Opening in 2020
Circa Resort
For the first time in more than four decades, an all-new resort is being built on Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas. Standing at 459 feet tall, this 44-story resort will take up an entire block and be home to 777 rooms. According to owners Derek and Greg Stevens, Circa will have a two-level casino and a nine-story parking garage, known as Garage Mahal, which will be located across the street from the resort. The property is also planning to have the longest outdoor bar to be located on Fremont Street and a six-tiered pool area that includes a 125-foot television screen.
While all of those other amenities are nice, the real showcase of this new resort is the three-story, stadium-style sportsbook. Expected to be the biggest in Las Vegas, Derek Stevens’ has stated that his vision for the sportsbook was inspired by the sportsbooks at Caesars Palace and the Hilton. The Circa’s sportsbook would also include the Vegas Stats & Information Network and is expected to become the center of sports wagering in downtown Las Vegas. If everything goes smoothly, the new resort will be open in December of this year.
Emerald Queen Casino and Resort
While the Puyallup Tribe has been successfully running the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington for the past 15 years, the tribe has only recently been able to make major strides in replacing the former bingo hall into a mega-casino and resort. Construction on this new facility spans over 310,000 square feet with a 110,000-square-foot gaming floor, a 21,000-square-foot event center with 2,000 seats and a 200-room hotel with spa and conference rooms. The casino will incorporate tribal art throughout, a cedar paneling that is evocative of a tribal longhouse and will feature exterior metal panels in a design reminiscent of basket weaving. Drawing comparisons to hotels in Las Vegas, the Emerald Queen Casino and Resort is sure to attract many visitors traveling down I-5. The grand opening is scheduled for next month.
This is just one of many renovation and expansion projects among tribes across the country. These groups are looking to increase profits and 2020 will see the completion of a variety of major improvement projects among Indian owned casinos.
New Legislation, New Opportunities
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Georgia is one of only a handful of states that does not house a land-based casino, but that might change in the near future. Earlier this month the Special Committee on Economic Growth, a committee made up of 15 state representatives, hosted a public hearing to gather input from the local community on possible gambling expansion at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and over 200 residents showed up. However, in order to pass gambling legislation in Georgia, it would require an amendment to the state constitution. This means that a two-thirds majority vote in both the house and senate would need to occur before citizens could even have a chance to vote on it at the ballot box.
Emerald Queen Casino Construction Update Report
If new legislation were to pass, the site of the hearing would be the site of the state’s first casino. Ed Clark, president of the Atlanta Motor Speedway, released plans last year to add a casino, hotel, an indoor and outdoor water park, a concert venue, a nightclub and several other attractions to the racetrack. His plans would turn the speedway into a year-round attraction instead of just during the NASCAR season.
This would not be the first speedway in the country to renovate their facilities with casinos. Both Kansas Motor Speedway and Delaware’s Dover International Speedway each have casinos attached to them.
Pamunkey Indian Tribe and the City of Norfolk
Earlier this month, the city of Norfolk, Virginia, signed a $10 million agreement with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe for the purchase of 13.4 acres of land for the development of a waterside resort casino. The signing comes after over a year of negotiation between the City Council and the tribe.
The proposed Pamunkey Resort and Casino would include a four-diamond, full-service convention hotel, several onsite restaurants, an entertainment venue, a luxury spa, and both indoor and outdoor swimming pools. While construction has not even started yet, it is projected to create thousands of full-time jobs and attract millions of new visitors to the city each year.
However, while 2020 is an exciting time for Norfolk and the Pamunkey Tribe, there is a minor speed bump before any construction can even begin. According to a provision in the agreement, the tribe cannot fully purchase the land until they are given the right to conduct commercial gaming. Since commercial gaming is not yet legal in Virginia, the General Assembly would need to first legalize commercial gaming before any party could begin to reap the benefits of this new project. The state did adopt legislation last year that specifically would allow casinos in five cities, including Richmond and Norfolk, but the legislation would need to be passed again this year to become law.
The tribe has modified its development plans in an attempt to be more actively involved in current General Assembly deliberations regarding possible casinos in Bristol, Danville, and Portsmouth. With the possibility of the federal process for a tribal casino taking years, by the time the tribe’s project would be ready to proceed, other casinos would likely already be operating.
As the year 2020 continues to unfold, we are expecting more big news in the worlds of casinos, gambling and gaming. Visit Casino Schedule Ease to learn more about how management software is helping casinos meet modern demands and to stay up-to-date with the latest news happenings through our blog.
In recent years, the South Sound has seen a resurgence of sorts in the quantity of new development projects, specifically as many Seattle- and Eastside-based businesses begin migrating away from congested areas in hopes of finding a more favorable real estate market and burgeoning employment pool.
In fact, the construction industry accounts for nearly 7 percent of Pierce County’s jobs with more than $1.2 billion paid for construction in the county, according to Loren Cohen, managing director at MC Construction.
Industries tied to these new developments run the gamut from restauranteurs to technology firms, but according to Devin Page, president of Colvos Construction, there are many trends he and his employees are seeing in the types of jobs they are being contracted for.
“From our position as a general contractor, we’re experiencing increased demand to build multi-level self-storage, multi-family, and — most excitingly for Tacoma— adaptive re-use of underutilized masonry and industrial buildings,” Page said.
The surge in self-storage construction, Page said, correlates directly to job growth with area unemployment sitting at just 4 percent, the lowest in 18 years, allowing residents to aquire more household goods. Moreover, the rise of multi-family dwellings where square footage can be limited, also helps create a need for additional storage space.
While many of these multi-family dwellings in recent years have been larger — 150 residential units or more — Page said he is seeing a switch in market popularity favoring smaller infill and adaptive reuse properties.
“Within the last 12 to 18 months, these projects have suddenly been challenged to acquire commercial lending,” Page said. “We predict that there will be more entitled properties coming online than in recent years, given that some undercapitalized first-time developers will be unable to find the equity needed to fund construction.”
Emerald Queen Casino Construction Update 2019
Footprint and size aren’t the only factors at play with these types of developments: many residential and commercial tenants prefer the charm that comes with older buildings.
In addition to these trends, many other big projects are in the works across the area. For examples, Absher Construction Co. is working on the 170-unit Chambers Bay Resort at Chambers Bay Golf Course, the $220 million Emerald Queen Casino project, and the massive 23-story Tacoma Convention Center Hotel in downtown Tacoma.
Cohen said his company has moved in more than 800 families to the new units at the Point Ruston development and construction is still going on with plans to complete the $58 million, 194-room Silver Cloud Hotel sometime this year.
Other projects to watch:
The Legacy in Motion Project
A 6.5-acre swath of Puyallup farm land soon will be home to a campus for Step By Step, an organization which strives to help vulnerable women and children in the community. Formerly home to the Van Lierop Bulb Farm for close to 80 years, the existing structures include a 1900s-era farm house, a 18,000-square-foot retail building and multiple barns. The largest structure is currently being renovated to allow for a job-training program and opportunities for the women the organization serves. The first phase of construction is estimated to conclude this summer. Future phases are still in the fundraising stages.
Thurston County Readiness Center
In October, the Washington National Guard broke ground on its new readiness center on Kimmie Street Southwest in Tumwater to replace aging armories in Olympia and Puyallup. The $35 million, 78,000-square-foot LEED Silver facility will be used for training Washington guardsmen from multiple units. The project, led by Pease Construction of Lakewood, will include two small vehicle storage buildings; classrooms; simulators; and a 6,000-square-foot gym, which will double as an assembly hall for the soldiers. Construction is expected to conclude by early 2021.
Mount Bay Apartments and Trax
One of the saving graces the Freighthouse Square building in Tacoma has been waiting for is finally coming to fruition in the form of commuter-friendly apartments. The first is the seven-story Mount Bay Apartments located on East 26th Street between C and D streets, designed by Erickson McGovern Architects. The 254,000-square-foot, $45 million building will include 229 residential units with a fitness center, pool, hot tub spa, dog run, garden terrace, sky lounge, barbecue area, and more. Construction is expected to begin this spring. The second will be a seven-story, 115-unit structure developed on land that was formerly owned by Pierce Transit directly across from Freighthouse Square. Construction has not yet begun, however it is rumored that the building could open by summer 2020. According to the City of Tacoma, parking will be limited and each resident will receive an ORCA transit card to encourage residents to bike or take transit.
Emerald Queen Casino Construction Update Iowa
The Preserve
Green Harbor Communities is planning a new development near Tacoma’s Blueberry Park. The 22-acre property dubbed “The Preserve” will target the least environmentally sensitive part of the property to build between 50 to 70 homes, ranging from 950 to 1,250 square feet. The community broke ground in early December and pre-leasing has already begun.