In northern California and the federally-recognized Wilton Rancheria tribe has reportedly secured even more outside funding to help it build the $500 million Sky River Casino.

According to a Monday report from CDC Gaming Reports, the extra third-party financial support from an undisclosed source was revealed last month via the annual report from operating partner Boyd Gaming Corporation and is to be utilized to help the pair fulfil their plan of opening the coming Sacramento County facility during the second half of next year. The source moreover detailed that this Las Vegas-headquartered firm paid some $36 million to real estate developer The Howard Hughes Corporation in February of 2015 so as to secure the 35.9-acre site for the coming gambling-friendly venue that it subsequently intends to operate on behalf of the Wilton Rancheria.

Momentous milestone:

Boyd Gaming Corporation used a Tuesday press release to pronounce that it expects to begin work on the California endeavor from March 9 under the leadership of general contractors AECOM Tishman and Yates Construction following the conclusion of an official ground-breaking ceremony. It also explained that the finished property, which has been designed by Dez Motif, Tandem Design and Friedmutter Group, is destined to sit just south of the city of Elk Grove featuring a twelve-story hotel with 300 rooms and suites, a spa and a fitness center as well as a casino offering a selection of approximately 2,000 slots and 80 gaming tables.

Economic emphasis:

The Wilton Rancheria, which lost its federal recognition in 1964 before regaining the important designation some 45 years later, reportedly told local television broadcaster KOVR-TV that its coming California casino development is to be built along US Route 99 a mere 18 miles from downtown Sacramento and employ up to 1,750 full-time members of staff. The tribe furthermore purportedly pronounced that work to construct the facility will create in the region of 1,600 temporary jobs and result in a facility additionally offering a cinema, a 30,000 sq ft events space and multiple food and beverage outlets.

Lucrative location:

Keith Smith serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Boyd Gaming Corporation and he reportedly proclaimed that the coming Sky River Casino is to be ‘the closest class-three casino to downtown Sacramento in the South Bay Area’ with its opening certain to help his firm’s efforts to continue recovering from the disastrous impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Prominent position:

To highlight the potential financial importance of the coming project and CDC Gaming Reports detailed that California is the largest tribal casino market in the United States due to the fact that it regularly accounts for over 26% of this sector’s annual aggregated gaming revenues. Such venues in ‘The Golden State’ purportedly chalked up receipts of $8.4 billion in 2016, which was about $2 billion more than was recorded by properties located along the Las Vegas Strip, and had simultaneously generated some $965.9 million in non-gaming revenues.