Opposition to the project, meanwhile, has been fairly muted, especially compared to the sustained outcry that clouded Graton Rancheria’s yearslong push for a casino starting back in the early 2000s. Talks are starting between municipal and tribal representatives. It now can be renegotiated in the wake of Graton Rancheria securing last month its new state gaming compact.Ĭombined, the tribe pays Rohnert Park and the county more than $25 million annually, and both local governments stand to get more under the expansion, though how much isn’t yet clear. That deal, like a similar one struck with the county, is meant to offset the cost of public services for the casino property. The city is expected to receive $251 million over the original 20-year agreement it reached with the tribe tied to the 2013 opening. “There’s no question that the casino has a very commanding presence here in Sonoma County and in our city,” said Marcela Piedra, city manager of Rohnert Park. Local unions are poised to do much of the work, as with earlier building projects that went into the now-10-year-old gaming resort. It cleared that hurdle only three months after release of a nearly 900-page draft environmental study of the expansion, which the tribe first announced a year ago.Ĭonstruction, expected to start this year pending final federal and state approvals, will support 2,000 temporary jobs, according to the tribe.

Gavin Newsom’s office that allows for the expansion. The scope of the plans has come into clearer focus after the tribe in March announced it had reached a new gaming compact with Gov.

The expansion would solidify Graton as a powerhouse in California’s $8 billion annual tribal gaming industry, where its slot floor would rank behind only one other site, the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in San Bernardino County.Īlready one of the largest private employers in the North Bay, the expanded casino-resort off Wilfred Avenue will also become by far the largest lodging property in Sonoma County. The proposal would double the size of the existing gaming floor, adding up to 3,000 slot machines, and another 200-plus hotel rooms, as well as a large performance theater and rooftop restaurant. In what is expected to be one of the largest commercial building projects in Sonoma County in years, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are lining up state and federal approvals to vastly expand the tribe’s $825 million Las Vegas-style casino and resort on its 254-acre reservation west of Highway 101 just outside Rohnert Park. The Bay Area’s biggest gaming destination is about to get bigger - a lot bigger.

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