Executives from the Connecticut-based Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority said Thursday that they are looking forward to operating a casino for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
During a conference call to discuss first-quarter finances, Bruce Bozsum, chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council, said the Dec. 23 approval of the Cowlitz trust application by the Bureau of Indian Affairs paved the way for “an exciting destination in the West.”
Clark County commissioners have voted to appeal the BIA’s decision in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The deadline to appeal is Feb. 4.
“It is one of the most beautiful sites for a regional casino,” said Mitchell Etess, CEO of the gaming authority, referring to the 152-acre site near La Center.
Without going into detail, Etess hinted that plans might be downsized.
According to plans submitted to the federal government, the tribe wants to build a $510 million casino-hotel complex.
After the Dec. 23 decision was announced, tribal Chairman William Iyall said the project would be built in phases, starting with a two-story casino that would have a 134,150-square-foot gaming floor.
Plans were drawn up before the recession, however. Etess said Thursday that they will be “refining” plans given the economy.
“We are going to sit down with the Cowlitz and decide what makes sense,” Etess said.
Leo Chupaska, chief financial officer of the gaming authority, said he estimates the appeals process will take at least a year but was confident the BIA’s ruling will stand.
Chupaska said he expects that the $40 million the authority has invested (including buying the land) in the Cowlitz project will be returned.
The Mohegans are the majority partner in the company that would manage the casino for seven years in exchange for 24 percent of net revenues.
Chupaska said the Cowlitz tribe will have to secure financing to build the casino, but he didn’t seem concerned.
“Now that the tribe has the record of decision, there has been renewed interest,” Chupaska said.
The gaming authority, the gambling arm of the Mohegan Tribe, operates the Mohegan Sun in southeastern Connecticut and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Plains Township, Pa.
The group reported a total debt load of $2.1 billion in its annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Mohegans listed declining revenue and increasing competition from other gaming operations as key areas of concern.
For its first quarter, the gaming authority reported a net income of $12.9 million, a 193 percent increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
In September, the company cut 475 positions at the Mohegan Sun and implemented other “cost containment initiatives” that saved $8.3 million in labor and operations costs for the quarter.
Stephanie Rice: 360-735-4508 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.
