Delays over, casino in PB opens its doors
Gambling facility a first for Arkansas
PINE BLUFF — After months of delay, Saracen Casino Resort — the state’s first standalone gambling facility — celebrated its grand opening Tuesday, welcoming thousands of people from nearby communities and neighboring states to a 200,000-square-foot casino that looms large over the farmland that surrounds it.
Saracen, owned and operated by the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma, was to open in early summer in Pine Bluff, but the opening was delayed because of construction-materials supply chain problems during the covid-19 pandemic, management said.
Groundbreaking for the complex took place in August last year.
Saracen Casino Resort is one of four casinos issued licenses to operate in Arkansas after voters passed a constitutional amendment legalizing casino gambling in 2018. Other gambling facili
Saracen Casino features seven restaurants, two of which are scheduled to open in November. The dining options will include chefs hired from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and the Ritz Carlton in Vail, Colo.
ties are operating or are in the works in Hot Springs, West Memphis and Russellville.
The question for the $350 million Saracen project is how well it will compete with casino gambling options in the state and in neighboring states like Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
The Quapaw Nation operates two casinos in Oklahoma, a market flooded with tribal-run gambling facilities. It bills its flagship project, Downstream Casino Resort, in the northeast corner of Oklahoma on the Missouri border, as an upscale, luxury operation.
It emphasizes high quality food and beverage offerings, state of the art facilities and an immersive design experience, according to its website.
“The Downstream facility is a full-fledged luxury property,” said Carlton Saffa, Saracen’s chief marketing officer. “It is in a county with 10 other casinos, so they had to differentiate themselves. We have to have what others don’t, which leads to a situation where experience and service become paramount.”
Saracen Casino features seven restaurants, two of which are scheduled to open in November. The dining options will include chefs hired from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and the Ritz Carlton in Vail, Colo. There is a gelato machine imported from Italy and ovens from Germany.
Honey, used for the beer that the casino brews onsite, is locally sourced. Meat is from cattle and bison sourced from a Quapaw herd in Oklahoma. Coffee beans are imported from 22 countries.
Carpeting, with an abstract motif replicating an aerial view of the Arkansas Delta, was made in the United Kingdom. On one wall is a 48-by-10-foot mural by Henri Linton, a landscape artist from the area. The staff declined to share the exact cost of the mural but said it was a “six figure investment.”
It has 2,000 slot machines and 35 table games.
“We have a number of differentiators,” Saffa said.
The pandemic has crimped Saracen’s plans for the operation.
Plans for an adjoining hotel, convention center and event space have been put on hold. Quapaw Nation leadership said they are confident that money will be there to complete the rest of the project but acknowledge investor uncertainty because of the coronavirus.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed there is some relief to this pandemic,” said Joseph Tali Byrd, Quapaw Nation Chairman. “We are going to have to play it by ear and see what our earnings entail. If we have the confidence of investors moving forward, then we will get our local vendors and contractors to make that happen.”
“It is just about timing,” Byrd said. “We have no doubt this casino project will knock their socks off.”
It is unclear if there is a timeline for the hotel and event spaces to be completed. Part of the construction is underway but has been halted.
Moody’s Investor Services has downgraded the project’s bond rating, citing concerns over the pandemic’s impact on the gambling industry as well as risk involved with the “limited history of commercial gaming” in the state.
“The negative outlook acknowledges that the coronavirus situation remains highly uncertain, and as a result, Saracen is at risk for project delays or a difficult rampup period once it opens,” according to a March 2020 Moody’s report.
Of the $350 million estimated cost of the project, about $285 million has been invested, according to executives.
Saracen executives point to the success of the Saracen Casino Annex, a smaller casino with 300 slot machines located near the construction site and newly-opened casino. The annex opened in September 2019 as a revenue stream and a training facility for employees. The annex will remain open, executives said.
Arkansas has received nearly $5 million in tax revenue from the Saracen Casino Annex. Since it opened, the annex generated $38 million in gross profit from $531 million worth of bets. The project has created 700 jobs.
“I think the numbers prove it makes sense,” Saffa, the chief marketing officer, said. “We believe the market will bear it.”
The grand opening was planned for Tuesday instead of a weekend to try to limit crowds. The facility, which can hold up to 10,000 people, limits numbers to 6,000 because of the pandemic. Masks are required. Staff members check temperatures at the door. Slot machines are separated by plastic glass.
By noon Tuesday, parking spaces were hard to get. There were a number of out-of-state license plates ranging from Georgia and Louisiana to Tennessee and even Oregon.
Hunter Stafford drove to Pine Bluff from Bastroff, La., for the opening.
“I have been passing by here since they broke ground,” Stafford said. “So far, it is one of the nicest casinos I have been to.”
Stafford said that for him it is closer than other casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi.
“It is definitely easier to get to,” he said.
Pine Bluff native Alexis Courtney said she has been waiting for the doors to open.
“It is really nice,” she said. “It took forever. Everyone was waiting for it to open up. Everyone, people from out of town, might make a trip here just for the casino.”
Christy Carillo, who lives 20 minutes away in Redfield, said she already had been frequenting the Saracen Casino Annex. She said many of her friends and relatives have been looking forward to the Saracen Casino opening.
“They are excited about it because Pine Bluff does not have anything,” Carillo said while playing slots. “I think it is great. You kind of step out of Pine Bluff when you walk in here.”