Tuscon's First Casino Hotel Breaks Ground

TUSCON – As reported by the Arizona Republic: "The Tohono O'odham Nation will break ground on Tucson's first casino hotel Monday, continuing a growing trend among Arizona's gaming tribes.

"The
Built in 1993, the Desert Diamond casino will be torn down when the new casino hotel is finished.  community will build a new Desert Diamond Casino next to the old one on the Nogales Highway and add an adjoining hotel, conference center and restaurants. Once construction is done, it will knock down the oldest Desert Diamond casino, which opened in 1993 and is showing signs of age.

"Details about the project will not be released until next week. The development will break new ground in southern Arizona, said Treena Parvello, a spokeswoman for the project.

"We'll be the first casino in Tucson to have a hotel,' she said. 'We will try and maintain business as much as we can (during construction).'

"Desert Diamond's expansion is the latest example of Arizona tribes building on the success of their casinos.

"The Salt River Indian Community plans to build a casino hotel up to 15 stories tall to replace Casino Arizona at Talking Stick's temporary facilities, northeast of Loop 101 and Indian Bend Road. Harrah's Phoenix Ak-Chin Casino Resort is considering an expansion or 'repositioning,' according to Warnick & Co., a consulting firm that tracks the local lodging industry. And the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation opened a Radisson in November.

"The Gila River Indian Community began expanding Vee Quiva Casino in January. It researched the feasibility of building a hotel near the Wild Horse Pass Casino south of Phoenix but tabled the idea. Instead, it will consider building a ballroom and timeshares at the nearby Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa in the near term and adding guest rooms in the long term…."