Boyd Gaming buys site for Wilton Rancheria Casino

The $400m casino resort is slated to open in late 2022 according to Boyd.

US.- Las Vegas-based gaming firm Boyd Gaming has bought a vacant mall in Elk Grove, California, to serve as the site for its Sacramento casino project in collaboration with the Wilton Rancheria tribe.

It acquired the 64-acre lot from Texas-based real estate firm Howard Hughes Development. The price paid has not been revealed.

The real estate firm has previously planned to develop a high-end shopping and entertainment destination on the site.

Elk Grove City Manager, Jason Behrmann, said the sale of the former mall “offers a fresh start and a new opportunity to develop something with a group who shares the city’s vision for the site and its potential as a regional destination.”

Wilton Rancheria is a Native American group from northern California with around 700 members. It owns a further 36 acres of land next to the 64 acres purchased by Boyd.

In 2019, the Department of the Interior approved the tribe’s gaming accord with the state, allowing it to proceed with plans to open a gaming venue.

It had originally planned to open the casino in 2020, but Wilton Rancheria’s chairman Raymond Hitchcock now believes it will be late 2021 when the venue opens.

However, Boyd president and CEO, Keith Smith, said in a statement in October that the Wilton Rancheria Sacramento Casino isn’t expected to open until late 2022.

He said: “We are putting the final pieces in place to allow the tribe to secure financing in the next several months … and move ahead with the project construction.”

The $400m project will include a hotel, casino, spa, restaurant, and convention centre.