The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation recently announced it is considering opening a third casino in North Carolina in response to potential future competition in Georgia. Principal Chief Patrick Lambert stated in the Cherokee One Feather newspaper. The tribe currently owns Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel, both operated by Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corporation.
Lambert said, “Every day we turn away customers from the casino because we don’t have enough hotel rooms to put them in and with another casino here in town we could easily defer them to our other property. It is an idea with a lot of merit and is worthy of more discussion.” He added the smaller, boutique-style venue would help the tribe “get ahead of any other potential competition”.
Lambert said the tribe would invest up to $61 million on a venue in Cherokee with a 25,000 square foot gaming floor with 250 slots and 20 table games, plus a 200-room hotel with a 150-seat restaurant. He said the casino resort would “conservatively” generate annual revenue of $37 million, resulting in an additional $12 million a year for the tribe after the initial five-year payback.
North Carolina allows the Eastern Cherokees three casinos under its gaming compact, Lambert noted. “Remember, many other tribes have multiple casinos such as the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma with nine casinos and the Seminoles in Florida with five casinos. As we have seen, the second casino we built in Murphy has already added great value to our bottom line and per capita,” Lambert said.
The tribe also is working out a partnering with the Cordish Companies to develop a new retail outlet next to Harrah’s Cherokee. “We have always had to drive for over an hour to buy a suit or a dress but with this new development we could finally have those retail stores right here in Cherokee. This will not only provide us with new jobs and a new diversified tax base for our Tribal Levy but will also add a newer and higher quality of life to our overall community by providing the type of amenities in shopping and retail that we have all come to need and expect,” Lambert wrote.
