Updated and bumped:
Mike W. (one of my readers) spotted an interesting change on the Lakes Entertainment web site. Here's what it says now:Casino Highlights
- 1,000 gaming devices, 20 table games and 5 poker tables
- Enclosed parking garage
- 20 minutes to downtown San Diego
- Proven gaming market
- Population - 11 million/100 mile radius
Project Status
- Signed development and financing agreement
- Currently planning to build on existing reservation
They dropped the completion date! I'm not entirely sure what this change means, but it sure is hard to see it as anything other than good news!
Original Post:
The Lakes Entertainment web site is now showing the revised casino plans:
Casino Highlights
- 1,000 gaming devices, 20 table games and 5 poker tables
- Enclosed parking garage
- 20 minutes to downtown San Diego
- Proven gaming market
- Population - 11 million/100 mile radius
Project Status
- Signed development and financing agreement
- Currently planning to build on existing reservation
- Opening estimated January 2009
Assuming those are Class 2 gaming devices (not requiring any agreement with the State), this is a plan for a tiny and far less profitable casino than the proposal we heard last fall. It appears to be either 3 or 4 stories high, versus the 27 or 30 or whatever was really being planned (I’ve heard so many variations that I’m not sure what the reality was).
While I’m sure that the tribe and Lakes Entertainment are completely correct to say there are fewer obstacles in the way of getting this plan implemented, I believe it’s also true that the (much) smaller profit incentive means it’s much less likely that Lakes Entertainment will be willing to fund a prolonged, difficult legal battle. In other words, I think this development means the casino project is now more vulnerable to challenge…