Gaming News

Snoqualmie Tribe announces casino groundbreaking

SNOQUALMIE, Washington --(PRESS RELEASE)--After years of anticipation, the Snoqualmie Entertainment Authority has broken ground on what will become the closest tribal gaming center to Seattle and the first on the Eastside.

Casino Snoqualmie is located on a prime 56-acre site just off I-90 at Exit 27, 26 miles east of Seattle. With 170,000 square-feet of entertainment space, Casino Snoqualmie will feature 52 table games, 17 poker tables and 1,650 video machines, as well as a 1,000-seat events center, a 200-seat cabaret/nightclub, five restaurants, four unique bars, a plush cigar lounge and 2,000 parking spaces. The $235 million casino project is scheduled to open in fall of 2008 and is expected to create 900 jobs.

"Casino Snoqualmie will become the exclusive provider of casino entertainment to the Eastside and will draw people from throughout the region and beyond," said Michael Barozzi, Chief Executive Officer of Casino Snoqualmie and the Snoqualmie Entertainment Authority. "This will be a fun place where people can relax and enjoy themselves. With our convenient location and premier amenities, Casino Snoqualmie will create a new gold standard for entertainment."

Earlier this year, the Snoqualmie Entertainment Authority, in conjunction with Bear Stearns and Guggenheim Capital Markets, LLC, closed on $330 million in financing for the purchase of the land and the construction and opening of Casino Snoqualmie. This was the largest bond offering in the history of start-up tribal gaming operations.

"The commencement of this construction project is another step in the long journey of the Snoqualmie people," said Snoqualmie Tribal Chief Jerry Enick. "This brings us closer to ensuring a greater future for our tribal members and, in particular, will give the youth of our tribe opportunities we have never had in our lifetimes."

The Snoqualmie Entertainment Authority has assembled a world-class construction team led by the internationally renowned gaming and resort design firm of Bergman, Walls & Associates, which designed The Mirage, Treasure Island, Golden Nugget and Paris in Las Vegas as well as the Barona Valley Ranch in San Diego. Skanska USA Building, formerly known as Baugh Construction, is the general contractor. Skanska built Benaroya Hall and Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and has worked on other casino developments for MGM Grand, Greektown Casino and Foxwoods Rainmaker Casino. The interior designer for the project is Yates-Silverman, Inc., which has more than 40 years' experience in the gaming industry and has developed interiors for New York New York Hotel & Casino, Paris Las Vegas and Caesars Palace.

"With the high level of expertise and professionalism our construction team brings to the project, we feel confident that Casino Snoqualmie will be the finest entertainment venue the Northwest has ever seen," Barozzi said.

The Snoqualmie Tribe has been working for decades to establish a premier entertainment center to support the tribe's economic development. In 2001, the tribe took a major step toward realizing its plans when it asked the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to place the land where the casino will be built into trust as federal reservation land. Since then, the tribe has worked with the City of Snoqualmie to improve water and sewer lines as well as emergency management plans. The tribe cleared its last regulatory hurdle when it gained federal approval in March 2006 following designation of the site as reservation land by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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