Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria chairman Greg Sarris has announced that ground-breaking will take place this fall for a hotel at the tribes’ casino resort in Rohnert Park, just two years after the opening of the casino. The Graton Rancheria Casino Resort is located in the heart of Sonoma Valley just 50 miles north of San Francisco, and is the closed Class III facility to the Bay area.

The North Bay Business Journal reports being optimistic by the news stating “new lodging development shows confidence in the market” and refers to the Graton project as “much anticipated.” In the past three fiscal years, average hotel occupancy rates in Sonoma have risen over 10 percent, while the average room price has risen about 25 percent.

Sarris acknowledges that the tribe is excited about the plans and states “I can tell you it’s going to be the nicest thing Northern California has seen.”

Preliminary plans are that the hotel is expected to be two-story and have about 200 rooms. Financing for the hotel was secured for up to $200 million as an add-on to the phase 1 of the casino development. Additionally, the casino is continuing to see strong returns with the first six months of this year reporting net revenues of almost $190 million.