By: Joseph Ascenzi (The Business Press)
(17-10-2000)

The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians has announced plans for a $200 million, two-phase expansion of its Fantasy Springs Resort near Indio, a development that is expected to take about four years to complete.

Phase One, expected to wrap up by fall of 2002, is slated to include a hotel, golf course and convention center, according to tribal officials.

The Cabazon tribe, which owns and operates Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, wants to be among the first Coachella Valley gaming tribes to build a genuine resort with gaming as its main attraction, said Mark Nichols, the tribe's chief executive officer.

Seven months ago, state voters passed Proposition 1A, an initiative making it legal for state gaming tribes to operate Nevada-style slot machines.

Passage of the initiative, actually an amendment to the state constitution, led to several announced expansion plans by gaming tribes throughout California, including the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm Springs and the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians in Indio.

But the Cabazon tribe's plans are among the more ambitious announced so far by gaming tribes in the state.

"A lot of this is new, things that we've never done before, so it's not only an expansion," Nichols said.

"We think we're in the right place at the right time, and that we got out of the gate early."

The resort is undergoing an 80,000-square-foot expansion that includes restaurants, a lounge, banquet facilities and a gaming area.

Phase One of the tribe's expansion plan calls for:

-- A $60 million, 324-room hotel with two seven-story towers totaling more than 252,000 square feet.

-- An 18-hole, $15 million championship golf course.

-- A 4,200-seat convention center and entertainment arena with retractable slope seating. The two-level complex will cover more than 60,000 square feet and will cost about $7.2 million.

-- A 16-lane expansion of the tribe's 24-lane Fantasy Lanes Family Bowling Center, at a cost of $3 million.

-- A 1,200-seat multi-purpose conference center that will cost $1.3 million.

-- A six-level, $11 million-garage that would accommodate 975 vehicles.

-- A 35,000-square-foot swimming pool and more than 200,000 square feet of resort landscaped areas that will include tropical plants and water features, with a combined price tag of about $4.1 million.

-- The extension of Indio Springs Parkway and the upgrading of related infrastructure for an estimated cost of $10 million.

The second phase of the expansion, expected to be completed by the fall of 2004, calls for:

-- Construction of a tribal administration and cultural center.

-- A 504-room, $73 million annex to the hotel built in the first phase, as well as a recreational vehicle park featuring swimming, tennis and an executive golf course.

-- A 150-unit time-share condominium complex.

-- A community shopping center, six new restaurants, a highway convenience center, a four-level garage and another swimming pool.

Nichols said the Cabazon tribe hopes moving quickly will help it compete with other gaming tribes in the region.

"By going first, we hope that we will be meeting the least resistance," Nichols said.

"We won't have as many things to mitigate, and we'll have a bigger talent pool to draw from."

Michael Lombardi, a Native American gaming consultant, said the Coachella Valley casinos will ultimately feed off of each other.

"People will `casino hop' just like they do in Las Vegas, even though in the Coachella Valley they aren't located right next to each other," Lombardi said.