Harrah’s, Caesars said to be eying tribal casino deal

Monday, Aug. 9, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

A developer in Northern California who has proposed a casino project in Richmond, Calif., said Harrah's Entertainment, Caesars Entertainment Inc. and a partnership of Waterford Gaming and Kerzner International Ltd. -- the group that developed the Mohegan Sun hotel-casino in Connecticut -- are vying to manage the casino, a California newspaper reported Friday.

It wasn't clear Friday whether Caesars was interested separately in the project or whether it was included because of the company's pending merger with Harrah's.

The developer, Jim Levine of Emeryville, Calif.-based Upstream Investments LLC, declined to name the tribe involved but said it is "landless" and would require approval from the federal government to take land for the casino into trust for the tribe, the Contra Costa Times said.

Levine said lobbyist William Cohen, the former Republican senator from Maine who became secretary of defense under the Clinton Administration, approached Upstream, the paper said.

Plans call for a $700 million casino resort including a 1,100-room hotel, performance venue, restaurants and a retail center to be built on a former naval fuel depot called Point Molate. Richmond is less than 20 miles from San Francisco.

Levine could not be reached for comment. Harrah's and Caesars representatives declined to comment on the story.