The Prairie Island Indian Community, owners of Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch, Minnesota, confirmed it has purchased 112 acres of farmland for .4 million. Tribal Council President Shelley Buck said the tribe had no plans to build a casino on the land, located 30 miles from the tribal reservation. “I can’t speculate what is going to go there. Our plan is not to put a casino there. The state would not allow us to put one there,” Buck said.
The 870-member tribe bought the land as an investment, Buck noted. She said the real estate purchase, the tribe’s first in the metro Twin Cities area, fits in with its diversification efforts. “We are investing in our future,” she said. In addition Buck said the tribe was concerned about the nuclear storage site near its Red Wing reservation land. Buck said, “We want to invest in land in a place that is safer.”
The Washington County assessor’s office indicated a group called Four Sisters LLC bought the land in June 2015. Buck confirmed Four Sisters is an investment company owned by the tribe. She said the purchase price of $40,000 an acre was within the price range for the area.
Besides the casino, the tribe also owns Mount Frontenac Golf Course in Red Wing. Tribal businesses employ about 1,700 people.
