The proposed Indian casino resort in Rohnert Park could be sold at auction under a proposal in the bankruptcy of the Las Vegas gambling company bankrolling the project.
Owners of the company, Station Casinos, and some of its lenders, say they intend to submit a $772 million bid to retain a significant portion of the company's assets, including Native American projects.
But the plan announced this week also leaves the door open for other gambling companies to take over the Rohnert Park project.
Whether a new investor would speed up construction for the stalled casino, first announced by the Graton Rancheria in 2003, remains doubtful.
"If you have a new player that comes in, I would think that would definitely delay things," said Sonoma County Supervisor Mike Kerns, whose district contains the casino site just west of Rohnert Park.
"The whole history has been one of delay," Rohnert Park City Councilman Jake Mackenzie said of the resort project, which promised 2,000 slot machines, a 300-room hotel, convention center and theater.
He said it's likely the National Indian Gaming Commission would want to review the management arrangement the tribe has with any new company.
"Their responsibility under federal law is to make sure tribes are not screwed over," he said.
"It seems everybody has a lot of questions that aren't being answered," Rohnert Park Mayor Pam Stafford said of the bankruptcy process and implications of a new gambling company partnering with the tribe.
Station Casinos on Monday announced that a majority of its secured creditors for the company's major assets had agreed to support a proposal to buy four of its Las Vegas casinos and its Indian gambling contracts.
The plan calls for a newly formed company called Fertitta Gaming, real estate company Colony Capital, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase to make a "stalking horse" bid for the properties, subject to approval by the federal bankruptcy court in Reno.
Frank Fertitta III is chairman of Station Casinos and his brother Lorenzo is president of the company, which had about $5.6 billion in debt when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.
The company, which owns and operates 10 major hotel casinos and eight smaller casinos in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, blamed the slowdown in the economy and the drop in gambling revenue for its financial problems.
This week's court filing outlined proposed bidding procedures for some Station assets, including the Indian gambling contracts and land it has with the Graton Rancheria, two other California tribes and a Michigan tribe.
But Station said it would also entertain bids for all, or any portion of a list of assets that includes its Native American subsidiaries.
Competitor Boyd Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas, which last year offered to buy all of Station Casinos for $2.45 billion, issued a statement indicating interest in acquiring Station Casinos assets.
Station officials and their bankruptcy attorneys did not return repeated calls made by a Press Democrat reporter in the past week seeking comment.
Graton Rancheria Tribal Chairman Greg Sarris also did not respond to requests for comment.
Precisely what Indian gambling assets would be sold is uncertain.
In 2005, Station Casinos through its subsidiary SC Sonoma, paid $100 million for 270 acres — a record price at the time for bare land in Sonoma County — to build the tribe's casino project adjacent to Rohnert Park.
The company later bought more land next to the casino site for a proposed upscale shopping center up to 50 acres in size.
Court documents in the bankruptcy filing state SC Sonoma Development LLC represents a $155 million interest for Station Casinos. Another subsidiary, SC Sonoma Management LLC, represents a $137 million interest and Sonoma Land Acquisition Co. represents a $10.5 million interest.
Marilee Montgomery of Stop the Casino 101, which has a pending lawsuit against the casino project, believes some of those amounts listed represent the high prices paid for land on Rohnert Park's western edge. She said it may also represent property acquisitions near Sears Point, the original location proposed for the casino.
To make the casino a reality, the tribe still needs to have federal regulators take the land into trust for a reservation, a process that was suspended as a result of the pending litigation by Stop the Casino 101.
A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs said the tribe's application to put the land into trust would not be affected by a new company partnering with the Graton Rancheria.
"Right now, it's too early to tell what impact this might have on the project," said Shawn Pensoneau, a spokesman for the National Indian Gaming Commission, which is charged with approving the management contracts tribes strike with their gambling partners.
He said his agency reviews financial information and checks for criminal backgrounds. He said the protracted environmental impact study for the casino project, which has yet to be finalized, would not be affected if the tribe has a new development partner.
Also uncertain is how the $200 million, 20-year revenue sharing agreement the tribe struck with Rohnert Park to offset casino impacts will be affected. As part of the agreement, the tribe continues to pay $500,000 annually — with Station Casinos money — to fund a special Rohnert Park police unit.
The bulk of the money isn't scheduled to begin rolling into City Hall until after the casino is built.
"I'm not holding my breath," said Mackenzie, the city councilman.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: