Spotlight Casino Starts $100M Expansion

COACHELLA, CA-The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians has started the first phase of construction on a $100-million expansion of its Spotlight 29 Casino that will include a 200-room hotel, a spa and a parking garage. The project calls for completing the 1,245-space four-story parking garage first, with the hotel construction to begin afterward.

The tribe is planning for a four-star rating for the hotel, which will include a pool/recreation area, the spa and covered cabanas, a convention center and restaurant additions. Ray DelFiandra, general manager of the Spotlight 29 Casino, says that the parking structure will be built first to honor the assurances that the tribe made to the community five years ago when it built the casino, which was then known as the Trump 29 Casino.

Construction of the parking garage is expected to be completed in 12 to 14 months, with the groundbreaking for the hotel and spa to follow shortly thereafter. The project is being developed by the design/build firm WorthGroup, which has offices in Denver, Las Vegas and Reno.

WorthGroup specializes in projects like the Spotlight 29, with experience on more than 150 destination resort properties in its 16-year history. Its list of clients includes hotel and gaming operators, more than 40 Native American tribes and variouspublic entities.