Yokut Gas Station will will grow to 40 pumps
-September 30,2020-
The Tachi-Yokut tribe’s casino business has been suffering this year due to COVID-19, like everyone. While they do not release visitor numbers, Las Vegas casinos do and that gambling Mecca has seen a drop of 55% in their visitor numbers year to date.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has cut into the average count of 5,800 patrons per day coming to the Lemoore resort. These patrons are made up of leisure travelers, day visitors, entertainment fans and casual diners – all groups that due to mandatory and self imposed restrictions are staying home instead of spending money at venues like the Palace.
Go bigger despite pandemic
But this year’s trend has not slowed down plans to do a major expansion of the Palace resort as seen in a new environmental assessment released September 23. A virtual public meeting will be held via Zoom on October 7th, to receive comments on the project. The public meeting will start at 5:00 p.m. and will run until the last comment is heard or 7 p.m.
The plan in a nutshell – don’t retreat- go bigger. In the gambling world it is called ‘double down’.
On the table are planned expansion of 43,518 square feet of additional gaming floor space, a new 35,000 sf bingo hall/event center, 120-room hotel tower, 20,000 sf conference center, three-story parking garage with 1,000 parking spaces, and additional on-site water and wastewater treatment facilities.
The tribe says the expansion will mean an additional 100 jobs.
Already the existing resort is impressive.
The existing Tachi Palace Casino Resort, owned and managed by the Tribe, consists of one three-floor casino that contains gaming areas, bingo hall, seven restaurants, retail areas, administrative offices, and general circulation space. The gaming floor encompasses approximately 70,000 square feet (sf) of the 337,418 sf building with 1,998 Class III and 110 Class II slot machines, and 27 game tables.
The Coyote Entertainment Center is connected to the casino on its northern side and is approximately 82,415 sf. The center includes a sports bar and lounge, a cinema and a variety of games, including pool, bowling and arcade games. The hotel is approximately 125,000 sf, has 255 guest rooms and suites, and includes an on-site pool, spa, fitness center, gift shops, business center, and an indoor concert theater of approximately 20,000 sf with 1,198 seats. On-site parking facilities consist of 2,000 paved surface parking spaces.
When you add it up, the Palace would see about 60% increase in gaming square footage, a 50% increase in hotel rooms and a third increase in parking.
The adjacent Yokut Gas station and convenience store would increase its fueling capacity adding 34 gas and diesel pumps to bring their total to 40 as well as more than doubling the number of slots. With this, Yokut Gas would be one of the largest gas stations in the Central Valley.
New Compact
Asked what this means for Kings County – Supervisor Doug Verboon says the tribe and Kings County are negotiating a new compact right now that the Rancheria needs to maintain its license. The new compact will mean more money for police and fire in the county, he expects.Verboon says he has been told by tribal officials that the current pandemic and rules have made it difficult to operate but it’s possible rules could be loosened soon.He says he has meeting at the Palace next week. Asked for comment the Palace administration did not return phone calls.
Eagle Mountain getting newer and bigger too
Of course another nearby Indian casino, the Tule tribe’s Eagle Mountain near Porterville is betting that newer as well as bigger is better with the approved relocation of their casino from a remote site on their reservation, 12 miles into the foothills to the City of Porterville.
The timetable to build this new resort is not much different from the construction schedule in Lemoore with the two competing for visitors. The new resorts will be just 55 miles apart.
The relocated Eagle Mountain casino would include a 250-room hotel, 29,000 square feet of convention space, a sports bar, restaurant, buffet and food court, entertainment lounge and 1,700 seat entertainment center.
The US Department of Interior is expected to approve the plan to bring the new property in trust, a move recently approved by Governor Newsom. The deadline for the Department of the Interior decision is near – October 2.
In addition the tribe recently made the existing Eagle Mountain facility smoke free.
Coalinga goes to pot
No Central Valley city has traveled down the cannabis road more than Coalinga – now with 7 active tax-paying business operations in town and 3 to 5 more pot enterprises knocking on the door for city approval. Only Woodlake has a similar aggressive track record.
Coalinga Assistant City Manager Sean Brewer says there is an upcoming hearing for a new outdoor cultivation business in town (Oct 1) as well as a cannabis consumption lounge on Oct 6.
The outdoor cannabis farm would be in the city industrial area at 185 W. Gale Ave. The development, owned by Claremont Capital Partners, includes the cultivation of commercial cannabis in hoop houses and greenhouses on approximately 13 acres, the renovation of several existing accessory buildings for drying and curing, onsite improvements, construction of greenhouse structures and planting of cannabis plants. The applicant estimates they will have 2-3 harvests per year.
Three phases are planned. Phase 1 of the development will be to commercially cultivate approximately 9.76 acres of commercial cannabis (possible hoop houses), renovation of five (5) of the existing industrial buildings on site, demolition of one existing building. By Winter 2020 Phase 2 is expected to include the cultivation of an additional 1.53 acres of commercial cannabis, including additional security, fencing, a 6,500 sf-nursery greenhouse, and optional construction of green houses for cultivation of mature plants. Phase 3 of the development plan will include an additional 1.87 acres dedicated to commercial cultivation in the north portion of the property.
$1.4 million in revenue
This project will generate at least 5 new full time jobs (possibly more part time work during harvest), cannabis licensing fees and cultivation taxes in excess of approximately $1.4 million at full build out at the current tax rate.
So that would be $1.4 million in city revenue from one project.
As it is Brewer says the city’s 20/21 budget, just adopted, expects cannabis related revenue to the city of $1 million this year.That covers almost a third of the cost for the Coalinga police department.