Gila Casino
From comedy to country, classic to contemporary, our intimate 1,400 seat concert venue gives you a special experience with the stars. 100,000 square foot casino Over 1,000 slots including a premium high limit area Table games including Blackjack & Poker We offer 12,000sqft of flexible meeting space including our 8,000sqft Ballroom as well as breakouts offering outdoor space and natural light. Casinos under the Gila River Indian Community were planning to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic with new safety measures on May 15, 2020. This will be the tribe’s fourth casino, allowed based. Jul 23, 2021 The new casino comes with recent approval of a new gaming compact between Arizona’s Native American tribes and the state. “The Community gave up its fourth Casino in the 2002 Gaming Compact, based on the promise that there would be no new casinos in the Phoenix Metro Area,” The Gila River Indian Community said in its announcement. Gila River Hotels & Casinos is Arizona’s Home for Sports Betting. All three locations – Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte, and Vee Quiva will feature custom built BetMGM sportsbooks, set to open in. Casinos Gila River Hotels & Casinos has three locations across the valley, for your convenience! Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, located at the I-10 and Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, offers over 950 slot machines, 65 Table Games, Poker, Shula’s Steakhouse, and over 200 luxurious hotel rooms.
Gila River Hotels & Casinos - Wild Horse Pass Unveils Rooftop Restaurant and Lounge Plans as part of $143 Million Expansion
The 11-story Tower will be home to Prime, a New Shula’s Steak House Concept, Serving Classic Steakhouse Dishes with French Culinary Influences
(PRESS RELEASE) - Exceptional flavor combinations, modern decor and grand ambience will take over the rooftop of the new tower at Gila River Hotels & Casinos - Wild Horse Pass this fall. The rooftop destination will be home to Prime, A Shula’s Steak House, serving up a fresh twist on classic steakhouse dishes with touches of French culinary influence.
Rising 150-feet over the desert landscape, Prime will be on the 11th floor of the new hotel tower, complete with stunning views of the Estrella Mountains and breathtaking Arizona sunsets. As guests arrive to the hotel lobby, they will ascend to the top floor by a dedicated glass elevator. From the moment guests enter Prime, they’ll be welcomed by an invigorating take on the traditional steakhouse experience including perfectly prepared steaks, bold, craveable interpretations of classic dishes and signature wines paired with attentive service that puts guests front and center. After dinner, the venue transitions to 11ven at Prime, a place where crafted cocktails and lively DJs pair effortlessly with fabulous perspective of the Valley. Late night never looked so good.
Celebrity Chef Demetrio Zavala was influenced by his European, Mediterranean and Mexican roots when creating the menu for Prime. Chef Zavala has competed in and won Food Network TV cooking shows including “Chopped” and “Chopped: Grudge Match.”
The onsite culinary team will be led by Chef Eric Arechiga who studied classic French cuisine at SCI Le Cordon Bleu. Chef Eric currently oversees a culinary staff of eight highly trained cooks that he has personally trained and mentored.
“Chef Eric Arechiga was chosen to oversee all culinary operations of our Wild Horse Pass flagship restaurant Prime due to his passion, skill and quality execution he delivers on a nightly basis,” said Kenneth Manuel, Chief Executive Officer of Gila River Hotels & Casinos. “Chef Eric is a consummate professional and highly respected culinary leader with many years of experience creating memorable moments for our valued guests.”
The interior of Prime has been cultivated by Preen, an award winning hospitality design and architecture group. The space will feature neutral earthy tones with leather accents and stone tabletops.
'We have been partners with Shula's Restaurant Group for 12 years and our collaboration on the inaugural Prime concept was natural. With our expansion project came an opportunity to place our crown jewel dining venue atop the new tower,' Manuel said, “Along with our continued elevation of offerings and amenities, we found the perfect synergy of dining and destination. It not only provides an incredible culinary experience to our guests, but will be a Phoenix landmark for food and wine lovers to experience a chic casual, yet sophisticated atmosphere.'
For more details on the Gila River Hotels & Casinos - Wild Horse Pass expansion project, visitwww.playatgila.com/expansion.
© Thomas Hawthorne/The Republic Plexiglas is placed around slot machines, gaming tables, and other areas at the Lone Butte Casino in Chandler on May 14, 2020. Casinos under the Gila River Indian Community were planning to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic with new safety measures on May 15, 2020.A new casino will open on Gila River Indian Community land south of Chandler, the tribe recently announced.
This will be the tribe’s fourth casino, allowed based on Arizona Native American tribes’ newly negotiated tribal compact with the state. Before, the Gila River Indian Community was allowed three casinos, which it operates at Wild Horse Pass and Lone Butte in Chandler and Vee Quiva in Laveen.
The new casino will be on community trust land south of Gilbert Road and Hunt Highway, outside Chandler’s southern border. The casino is expected to open in one and a half to two years.
Gov. Doug Ducey in April signed a historic agreement with Arizona’s tribes, marking the biggest update to gambling in the state in decades. In addition to allowing sports betting, the compact provides for casino expansions and at least four new casinos, including at least two in metro Phoenix.
The new casino will offer all the new games allowed under the revised compact, including new table games and sports betting, a representative of the community indicated. It's expected to cost more than $100 million and plans could be expanded to add a hotel.
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Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis said in a statement the tribe has been negotiating for years with the state for an amended compact. He said the fourth casino is “historic news” for the community.
“Adding a 4th casino will bring additional revenue, security, and critical services to Community members. In addition, we anticipate being able to add hundreds of new jobs that Community members can take advantage of, and we expect that many of those will be filled by Community members.”
The casino is expected to create approximately 1,000 jobs once it's up and running.
The tribe's Community Council on June 18 approved the casino project, including a budget for its design and construction.
The Gila River Indian Community reservation covers nearly 600 square miles south of Phoenix, stretching from the southeast Valley and parts of Pinal County into the Laveen area of the southwest Valley.
When Ducey signed the compact amendment in mid-April, Lewis had said the tribe didn’t yet know where or when its fourth casino would open.
'This is something that has to be definitely studied,' he said at the time. 'We want to grow the market, but we want to grow it responsibly.'
Another newly allowed metro area casino could be built by the Tohono O’odham Nation near Loop 303 and Northern Parkway in the West Valley.
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Casino will be south of Chandler
Chandler officials have heard from nearly 30 residents concerned about potential impacts of the new casino near their homes, city spokesman Matt Burdick said in an email to The Arizona Republic. Current developments nearby are residential neighborhoods and golf courses.
Burdick said the city has no jurisdiction over this issue and will not be involved in any casino plan review or approval. But, he said, the city can communicate residents' concerns and city development plans so the tribe can make 'informed decisions' about the site, he wrote. The city has no plans to expand Gilbert Road or Hunt Highway.
A representative of the tribal community said they will be reaching out to the local community to address concerns such as traffic and to make sure they are being a good neighbor.
This same area was previously considered for one of the tribe's other casinos, said Chandler Councilmember Matt Orlando, who recalled conversations from when he was on the council at the time. He said there were infrastructure issues and neighborhood opposition, so the tribe decided in 2007 to build Lone Butte Casino by the Loop 202 instead.
Orlando said the key will be working with the tribe to have an open dialogue so the city can express any concerns it's hearing from nearby residents and have a sense of long-term plans for the area.
Chandler Vice Mayor Mark Stewart said the city has an 'impeccable' relationship with the tribe and that they are 'great neighbors,' partnering with Chandler on things from water to a veterans memorial.
'Anything that they do with business or with entertainment, things like that, is usually good for Chandler. It just gives us more options,' he said.
Stewart says he doesn't know much about the plans yet but thinks the tribe will work with the city to minimize impacts on traffic and nearby neighborhoods so the casino fits the area.
'They’re really impactful to our community as a whole so we’re just happy that we’re part of the community with them,' Stewart said.
Republic reporter Ryan Randazzo contributed to this story.
Reach the reporter at Alison.Steinbach@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-4282. Follow her on Twitter @alisteinbach.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gila River Indian Community plans 4th metro Phoenix casino south of Chandler