Soboba Casino started operating in 1995; now 20 years later the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians is looking to upgrade their current facility just a few miles from the old location. They recently purchased land to add to their reservation close to San Jacinto, California. The land is 535 acres, which includes Soboba Road, west of Lake Park Drive, and the area surrounding the current building. The plans are going to include 729,000 square feet of new space for a resort development containing hotel rooms, a country club, and golf course. The June 2015 announcement did not include details for when groundbreaking and construction would start.
As part of the project a tribal fire station, convenience store/gas station, fitness center, arena, and convention center will be built. A mixture of shops and restaurants will be included in the resort plans as well. The casino is going to be 160,000 square feet, according to current projected plans. There is also going to be a 300-room, five story hotel.
According to tribe leaders, it is not about a new casino, but more about relocating the gaming location into a better facility. The number of tables and machines will be the same. The difference is in the amenities that are not offered at this neighborhood casino.
The tribe wishes to keep it a local casino destination, but wants to compete with other Indian facilities like Pechanga, San Manuel, Morongo, Fantasy Springs, and Agua Caliente.
Gambling was available on the reservation as far back as 1984, with a bingo facility established in 1995. In the beginning, after a building was constructed for bingo with new games added a few months later, the casino did not fair to well. It had a lot of openings and closings. Now that it is sustainable and popular, the Soboba tribe is hoping to bring in top names for concerts to continue their success.
Nearby casinos are able to get stars such as Kenny Rogers, Tim Allen, and the Steve Miller band. Soboba, with their new facility, is hoping to get featured cover bands and cage fighting to continue local interest.