Big expansion ahead at Graton Resort and Casino, as tribal owners look to solidify dominance in gaming industry

The Bay Area’s biggest gaming destination is about to get bigger — a lot bigger.

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 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.

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.

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

Construction, expected to start this year pending final federal and state approvals, will support 2,000 temporary jobs, according to the tribe. 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.

“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.

The city is expected to receive $251 million over the original 20-year agreement it reached with the tribe tied to the 2013 opening.

That deal, like a similar one struck with the county, is meant to offset the cost of public services for the casino property. It now can be renegotiated in the wake of Graton Rancheria securing last month its new state gaming compact.

Combined, the tribe pays Rohnert Park and the county more than $30 million annually, and both local governments stand to get more under the expansion, though how much isn’t yet clear.

Talks are starting between municipal and tribal representatives.

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. The first proposed location near Sears Point off Highway 37 proved so controversial it was sidelined and the land later protected under a conservation deal.

Added traffic from the expansion is expected to lengthen delays at several key intersections, according to the tribe’s environmental study.

Public safety calls also are expected to increase, but the tribe’s study found no significant impact on county and city agencies.

The analysis also found the tribe’s existing water supply, drawn from wells, is sufficient to cover increased demand.

“I’m not hearing any voices of protest,” said former Rohnert Park Council member Jake Mackenzie, who served on the council when the casino was first proposed and later opened.

While the community was sharply split 20 years ago, many of the impacts to the surrounding community haven’t been as severe as feared, he said.

Crowded, lucrative market

The expansion comes as the gaming business rebounds from setbacks early in the pandemic and as casinos retool operations to meet shifting customer demands and demographics.

Resort amenities, including entertainment venues, are increasingly prized, and industry experts say Graton’s addition of a theater and the enlargement of its resort will diversify the draw for visitors. That will help keep more dollars on the property.

The project could be a knockout punch for competing gaming destinations in the region, including the older and smaller River Rock Casino to the north near Geyserville, where tribal owners in late February reached a deal with the county to add a 300-room hotel and 60,000-square-foot casino on their present site.

A separate tribal casino, proposed by the Koi Nation near Windsor — and facing unified opposition from other tribes and local governments — could face an increasingly crowded market if it gains any traction.

Graton tribal officials say the expansion will help meet visitor demand and boost tribal revenues to support operation of their government, spur economic development on the 254-acre reservation and beyond and improve quality of life for its 1,400 members, according to documents submitted to local and state leaders as part of the expansion.

“The proposed project would provide the additional amenities necessary to support and meet patron demands,” documents show, and it would help “sustain the tribe’s self-governance capability.”

Graton Rancheria Chair Greg Sarris declined to comment on the expansion.

What’s planned?

Graton is proposing to add more than 1.2 million square feet of space on what’s now surface parking at the casino.

Plans call for extending the casino floor by just over 86,000 square feet east from the existing floor with space for up to 3,000 new slot machines and 20 card tables, according to tribal documents.

A 28,000-square-foot rooftop restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating for 480 people is planned on top of that space.

The six-story hotel wing and a new pool area to be built south of the existing hotel will bring total rooms on the property to 421. That’s 1.5 times the size of the next largest hotel property in Sonoma County, the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country hotel in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square with 253 rooms.

A 3,500-seat theater that would dwarf concert halls at the Green Music Center and Luther Burbank Center for the Arts is proposed north of the existing casino. The theater is expected to operate an average of two nights a week, but use will depend on demand, documents show.

The expansion could help draw out-of-town visitors from the Bay Area and beyond as well as locals looking for a more all-encompassing entertainment destination, I. Nelson Rose, an attorney and tribal gaming law expert, previously told The Press Democrat.

The addition of the theater and more hotel rooms can attract more people of all ages and keep them on site longer, he said.

The expanded footprint is expected to have a similar design to the existing casino and resort, according to tribal documents.

Construction is expected to take 18 months, though the theater may be built as part of a second phase.

The project will generate an estimated 2,000 temporary construction jobs and up to 600 new permanent jobs, boosting the gaming resort’s 2,000-plus workforce.

Tribe’s study of impacts

The tribe began advancing its expansion plans last April, kicking off a lengthy environmental review.

An 878-page draft report issued in December examined the potential impacts on traffic, public safety, noise and water — concerns shared by officials and residents in the surrounding area during a public comment period.

Graton Expansion Draft Tribal Environmental Impact Report

The analysis projected demand for police and fire services will increase proportionate to the increase in visitors, but officials didn’t anticipate it would have a significant impact on local agencies.

Calls for law enforcement services to the casino represented about 2% of annual calls the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to between mid-2015 through March 2020, according to call data in the report.

The tribe said it would amend existing financing agreements with the county and Rohnert Park to address increased public service needs.

The study found the project is likely to generate an additional 628 daily trips to the casino.

That could worsen already moderate delays along Golf Course Drive at the Redwood Drive and Commerce Boulevard intersections and at Rohnert Park Expressway and Redwood Drive, according to the draft report.

Proposed mitigation includes improvements to Golf Course Drive.

The project design will incorporate noise reducing insulation and other soundproofing measures to reduce noise from the casino and the theater.

The analysis found the tribe’s existing water supply is sufficient to cover increased demand.

The review did not find significant impacts to surrounding land use, air quality and other resources.

Minimal opposition

Many of the same issues have been raised since the rancheria first discussed its plans for a Sonoma County casino two decades ago.

The eventual project just south of Home Depot was dogged by vocal public opposition, including an attempt to recall two supportive members of the Rohnert Park council, the first such effort in city history.

Some of those voices resurfaced as recently as 2017, when tribal officials floated plans to double hotel capacity.

This time, the expansion plans haven’t generated as much public pushback.

The casino is tucked away west of Highway 101, closer to the city’s commercial core than its neighborhoods, there hasn’t been a huge impact on traffic and it hasn’t led to a significant increase in lawlessness, said Mackenzie, the former longtime council member.

While the new plans will double the size of the facility, Mackenzie said he was confident any potential impacts will be addressed as part of upcoming negotiations between the tribe and local officials.

City, county officials gauging plans

Rohnert Park and county officials say they're analyzing the new state gaming compact and expansion plans to determine the potential draw on local resources and what it could mean for existing financial agreements.

Officials with both municipalities are preparing to submit feedback in response to the state compact ahead of it being ratified by the state Legislature and federal authorities.

Graton’s new gaming compact increases the amount of money the tribe pays into the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, which benefits nongaming tribes, from $2 million to $2.75 million if the tribe increases its slots to the maximum allowed under the new deal.

Rohnert Park and the county would receive 2% of net wins, the total amount wagered on slot machines minus total payouts, but it’s not clear how much more money that amounts to.

It’s also not clear whether that’s in addition to the money both governments already receive annually to offset impacts on public services.

Rohnert Park receives about $16 million annually, and about $1.3 million is passed on to a group of the tribe’s choosing. Another $1.3 million goes to the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, Rohnert Park Assistant City Manager Don Schwartz said.

Schwartz said city officials are working to understand how the new compact would impact the revenue sharing agreement, as well as agreements for wastewater collection and the maintenance of Wilfred Avenue.

A council committee formed to work closely with the tribe in the renegotiation informally met with tribal officials in January, Schwartz said.

Piedra, Rohnert Park’s city manager, said Graton has committed to continuing to work with the city and she looked forward to additional conversations with tribal officials.

Separately, the tribe pays Sonoma County to address negative impacts of the casino. Last year, that payment was about $14.5 million.

Supervisor David Rabbitt, whose district includes western Rohnert Park and the casino area, said it’s not surprising Graton wants to grow its operations. The plans, he added, are a sign of the casino’s success so far.

The county doesn’t have much of a direct role in overseeing the expansion because the casino is on tribal land, which is under the purview of the federal government, but county officials can review the plans and offer input, he said.

Rabbitt said he is looking at this project as if it were any other development — while not having say on land use, scope or design.

As plans and negotiations move forward, he wants to ensure that any potential impacts on public safety, public services and traffic are addressed.

He said he also wants to ensure continued tribal investments in parks and other community assets.

Any revised financial deals or other agreements between the tribe, Rohnert Park and the county will go before the respective government body for consideration in future public meetings.

Rabbitt called Graton Rancheria a good partner and a known entity in the community.

“We just want to make sure that everything is mitigated, that there is no cost to the taxpayer and that it’s a fair and equitable agreement,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been revised from an earlier version to correct the total sum for Graton Rancheria annual offset payments to the city of Rohnert Park and Sonoma County. That sum is more than $30 million, according to the city, county and tribe. The latest figure for the county’s share is $14.5 million.