The Arkansas Racing Fee (ARC) fielded its second and presumably last bid for the industrial on line casino license it plans to problem for Pope County later this 12 months.
A rendering of the Cherokee Nation Leisure’s proposed $300 million on line casino resort in Arkansas’ Russellville. Referred to as Legends Resort & On line casino, the gaming growth is presently the one certified bid earlier than the Arkansas Racing Fee. (Picture: Cherokee Nation Leisure)
Simply days after an entity based mostly in Mississippi referred to as Gulfside On line casino Partnership publicized its $405 million plans for a challenge referred to as River Valley On line casino Resort, state gaming officers reported its first qualifying submission.
It comes from Cherokee Nation Leisure, a subsidiary of Cherokee Nation Companies, the industrial enterprise conglomerate of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Cherokee Nation Leisure on Wednesday formally introduced ARC with its revised plan for a on line casino resort in Russellville.
For the previous 5 years, we’ve got been laying the groundwork for this one-of-a-kind, shovel-ready industrial on line casino resort and changing into ingrained in the local people,” Chuck Garrett, CEO of Cherokee Nation Leisure, stated in a launch.
Referred to as Legends Resort & On line casino, the greater than $300 million funding blueprint contains 50,000 sq. toes of gaming house with 1,200 slot machines, 32 stay seller desk video games, a poker site, and a sportsbook. The resort can be highlighted by a 200-room lodge, resort-style pool, luxurious spa, assembly and convention house, stay leisure, and several other eating places and bars.
What’s in a Identify?
ARC final 12 months, following a number of authorized challenges, awarded the Pope County on line casino license to the Legends builders. Nevertheless, an attraction filed by Gulfside efficiently challenged whether or not the Cherokee plan violated state bidding guidelines.
The Arkansas Supreme Court docket final fall dominated that the Cherokees ran afoul of the state’s bidding guidelines as a result of it utilized as a partnership. The Cherokee’s 2023 software listed Cherokee Nation Companies and a newly fashioned entity referred to as Legends Resort & On line casino, LLC, because the builders.
The on line casino bidding guidelines require that builders apply as single entities and never as a part of partnerships or consortiums. Bidding companies should additionally have the ability to show gaming expertise, one thing the Legends LLC lacked.
For the third Pope County bidding spherical, the Cherokees utilized as a single unit as Cherokee Nation Leisure. The corporate is the instant mum or dad group to the tribe’s Oklahoma casinos.
Judicial Help
One other situation of the ARC software necessities as dictated by way of the state’s 2018 modification to the Arkansas Structure that licensed a on line casino every within the counties of Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, and Pope is that bids be accompanied by a letter of assist from the county’s present decide or quorum courtroom. As of now, solely the Cherokee plan has such backing with Pope County Choose Ben Cross and a majority of the Pope County Quorum Court docket issuing letters of assist for the Legends challenge.
We’re honored to have garnered the required assist of Pope County leaders, bought 325 acres of land, and obtained a Massive-Scale Improvement allow from the Metropolis of Russellville. With the applying now submitted, we’re desperate to current our plans and huge expertise to the Arkansas Racing Fee and earn the state’s last on line casino license,” Garrett added.
The Gulfside scope is a $405 million enterprise with a 70,000-square-foot on line casino that includes 1,500 slots, 50 desk video games, a sportsbook, and a 300-room lodge. Gulfside will make its attraction to the Pope County Quorum Court docket on Wednesday to ask the panel to problem a second letter of assist to qualify its challenge for ARC evaluation.
If a easy majority isn’t realized on the 13-judge quorum courtroom, solely the Legends bid will warrant consideration by the state gaming regulatory company and produce the Pope County on line casino license saga to an in depth after almost six years.
