Licensing for Ritz-Carlton approved

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 11:27 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An upscale hotel and casino at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson is scheduled to open next January, a week before the Super Bowl.

Paul Bible, attorney for a group that is investing $100 million into the Mediterranean-styled development, told the state Gaming Commission Thursday that work on the interior has started on the 350-room Ritz-Carlton hotel and the 40,000-square-foot casino is not far behind.

The commission gave unanimous approval to Bible's client, the Alaska-based Cook Inlet Region Inc. owned by 7,000 Indian shareholders, to be registered as a publicly traded company.

In December the board of directors and the casino operators, Dan Reichartz and Dan Scott, will return for licensing in time for the Jan. 16, 2003, grand opening, the Sunday before the Super Bowl. Reichartz was a former executive at Caesars Palace. Scott previously worked at Caesars Palace and the MGM Grand.

Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said the state has fashioned an order that will allow "proper regulation," but every shareholder won't have to be submitted for a background check.

This company will be "more strictly regulated than other public corporations," he said.

The development also calls for condominiums, shops and a spa plus a 320-acre private lake. Bible said more than half of the 170 condos have already been sold in the development, located about 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.

Other partners in the total development are IntraWest Corp of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Sid and Lee Bass of Fort Worth, Texas.

The license for the public corporations has conditions that sets up procedures for unsuitable shareholders to dispose of their stock; that a person who holds 1 percent of the company can be called in for a background investigation and a requirement that each officer of the corporation and its subsidiaries must file applications for licensing.

Congress in 1971 approved an Alaska Native Claim Settlement, which split the Indian members into 12 corporations. They received close to $1 billion plus land.

The Cook Inlet Corp. received $72 million with about half of it to be distributed to the 7,000 people. The individuals were also given 100 shares in the corporation and the directors took $34 million and built it into a near $1 billion company with interests in telecommunications, tourism and real estate.

Shareholders cannot sell their stock but it can be passed on by death, divorce or by gift.

Cook Inlet owns half of the Hyatt Regency at Lake Las Vegas but is not involved in the casino operation.

The Ritz-Carlton would be the first gaming operation for Cook Inlet.