It took a contentious, fist-pounding meeting, but the Tohono O’odham Nation has a done deal with Glendale, Arizona. The $400 million casino project will pay the city $26 million over 20 years. “What we are being presented with tonight is peanuts compared to
what other cities have negotiated,” complained one dissenter, but the Tohono O’odham don’t have the deep coffers that, say, an MGM Resorts International can draw upon when negotiating surrounding-community agreements. The tribe’s accord with Glendale starts with $500,000 straight away. Six months after gambling begins, Glendale collects $1.4 million, escalating in 2% increments through 2026.
Off-site infrastructure improvements are Glendale’s responsibility. The tribe, in turn, pays for upgrades to the casino site, fire and police. Although the dissidents were very heated in their objections, Rev. Jarrett Maupin put the vote in perspective, saying, “These are peace talks. You lost the war.”
* A U.S. commonwealth may become a destination for Chinese gamblers. That’s the hope of Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd., part owner of junket operator Hengsheng Group. It has a 25-year casino license on Saipan and now is shopping around for land upon which to build a $3 billion casino. That’s a pretty steep price for a casino in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. However, VIP players who are willing to fly from Shanghai can get there in five hours.
Imperial Palace’s thinking is that it can sidestep the current Chinese governmental anti-corruption campaign by planting its flag on foreign shores. “Junkets typically provide loans to wealthy Chinese gamblers, taking assets such as property and company equity as collateral, but with” Reuters explains, “a squeeze on liquidity, over 14 small and mid-sized junket operators have been forced to shut down while large operators are trying to consolidate.” Saipan residents weren’t entirely thrilled with Imperial Pacific’s bigfooted presence, but a promise to shower residents with $10 million in cash appears to have bought peace.
