After breaking ground on its six-story Soboba Casino in February of 2017, the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians has now reportedly announced that the new 200-room southern California resort casino is set to begin welcoming guests from the first quarter of next year.

New venue to replace smaller forerunner:

According to a Friday report from The Press-Enterprise newspaper, the federally-recognized tribe declared that its new Riverside County facility is to feature approximately 474,000 sq ft of interior space and come complete with a casino offering 2,000 slots alongside 32 gaming tables.

The Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians also detailed that its coming Soboba Casino will sit on 37.5 acres of land around one mile from the smaller venue it is to replace and include a 15,000 sq ft conference space as well as a fitness center, a bar and a pool.

Coming development to include more dining options:

As if all of this wasn’t enough, The Press-Enterprise reported that the new property located around 85 miles east of downtown Los Angeles is to comprise a lobby bar, a cabaret lounge and banqueting facilities while its 22,000 sq ft of food service space will embrace a noodle restaurant, a food court, a coffee shop and a 24-hour cafe.

Scott Cozart, Chairman for the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, reportedly told the newspaper that he is ‘excited to see this long-awaited dream become a reality’ as the coming Soboba Casino is destined to ‘bring so much to our community and the entire region for many generations to come.’

Pala Casino Spa and Resort cools expansion plans:

However, The Press-Enterprise reported that the picture is not so rosy for the nearby Pala Band of Mission Indians after this federally-recognized tribe explained that it had put the brakes on a plan to bring a new 348-room hotel tower to its Pala Casino Spa and Resort.

The full scheme to expand the 507-room Pala Casino Spa and Resort, which is located in San Diego County some 44 miles away from the coming Soboba Casino, was unveiled in October and came with a $170 million price tag…

Despite recently opening an adjacent complex featuring several pools as well as adults-only outdoor bar and lounge areas in May, the complete plan has now purportedly been put on hold.

Competitor growth sparks re-think:

Bill Bembenek, Chief Executive Officer for Pala Casino Spa and Resort, told the newspaper that the alteration was due to ‘movement in the market’ after December saw the nearby Pechanga Resort Casino inaugurate a new events center, hotel tower and restaurant before following up four months later with a resort-style pool complex.

Bembenek detailed that the halt was furthermore down to the more distant San Manual Casino ‘doubling up on gaming’ after the San Bernardino County facility unveiled a $550 million expansion project that is to see it feature a new parking garage and entertainment venue by 2021.

Casino ‘still deciding’ on hotel tower plan:

The casino boss told The Press-Enterprise that Pala Casino Spa and Resort is due to begin renovating all of its existing rooms from October but that it is ‘still deciding with the new tower when to start building and how much to build.’

Bembenek to The Press-Enterprise…

“We will revisit it in full after we see how the summer goes. So far, it has been very, very busy.”