One of the largest California Indian casinos, the Pechanga Resort & Casino, will build a 5 million expansion, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians announced last week. A groundbreaking is expected early next year.
The tribe plans to add a new 14-story wing and 548 rooms to its existing hotel, an events center, two restaurants (for a total of 11), a spa, salon and fitness center and a four-acre pool complex with four swimming pools, including one of the trendy-lagoon style pools.
Chairman Marc Macarro commented, “To continue our viability and enable our competitiveness, we announce the next leg of our journey. As our region grows and matures, we must do so as well to position ourselves for the next 20 years. We believe this project will take us there.”
Patrick Murphy, president of the tribe’s development corporation added, “This project will meet the demands of our guests – more rooms, a true resort-style pool experience, a luxury spa, and A-list entertainment acts.”
Although the project will cost $285 million, it is expected to generate about twice that much in economic activity, including nearly 3,000 construction jobs.
The casino resort currently employs about 5,200 people, making it one of the largest employers in Riverside County.
The new project will be designed by Delawie architects, the original designers of the casino resort. Construction is expected to last about two years. It will be the tribe’s most ambitious project in a decade. It will bring the casino about equal with the number of hotel rooms operated by the tribe’s biggest rival in the region, Harrah’s Southern California Resort & Casino in San Diego county, which has more than 1,000 rooms. Pechanga’s other area rival is Pala Resort and Casino, with 500 rooms.
