Friday, November 08, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
LV company completes proposal for tribal casino
GAMING WIRE
RICHMOND, Calif. -- Las Vegas-based Kean Cos. recently completed a proposal for a band of Pomo Indians to develop a Las Vegas-style casino and hotel in Richmond.
The city of Richmond is considering a pitch from the Pomo Indians to buy shipping port Terminal 3 to make way for the development, with the promise of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs for the local economy.
A hastily appointed City Council committee heard Kean's bid Tuesday following a closed session.
Industry insiders have said Northern Nevada casinos are vulnerable to competition from American Indian casinos in Northern California.
The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, a 100-member Lakeport-area group, would buy the dock property for $10 million. It would be placed in a federal trust.
Because of a law co-written by U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., landless American Indian tribes have the right to develop casinos in urban areas. Experts and academics are predicting a grab among cash-strapped cities for the casinos.
Casinos do not pay property taxes. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act prohibits cities from asking the tribe for money in taxes or fees.
Many cities have hulls of long-vacant buildings, relics of the dot-com era or the office boom of the late 1980s they'd like to fill.
Richmond holds particular attractions for the Pomos. For one, it is an "aboriginal site" once used by American Indians, which is legally important.
And Terminal 3 still has a ferryboat landing where the Pomos would commit to restoring passenger service to San Francisco.
The Harbor Way South port, across the street from the historic Ford Assembly plant, is still in active use.
The port generates $1.5 million to $2 million per year and employs 12 people with an additional 50 to 75 workers unloading cargo.
