Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 | 4:39 p.m.
Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment might see its riverboat casino in Baton Rouge, La., open by late 2011.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board approved a revised development schedule today for the $250 million property after the casino operator told regulators financing would be available for the project. If the timeline goes as planned, construction is expected to start in May.
The project will be located on more than 550 acres of land that Pinnacle owns in East Baton Rouge Parish and is expected to include a 100-room hotel, 1,500 slot machines, 50 tables games and an entertainment venue.
Earlier this year, the company said it probably could sell bonds, but high interest rates would make the project financially prohibitive. But Carlos Ruisanchez, Pinnacle's executive vice president for strategic planning and development, said the company recently issued about $450 million in bonds at just under 9 percent to get money for its $407 million Sugarcane Bay casino project in Lake Charles.
Baton Rouge has two other riverboat casinos -- The Belle of Baton Rouge, operated by Tropicana Entertainment, and Hollywood Casino, operated by Penn National Gaming. Pinnacle is using one of the two licenses it obtained from Harrah's Entertainment Inc. in November 2006 after Harrah's decided not to reopen its two-boat complex in Lake Charles following destruction from Hurricane Rita.
Pinnacle will report third quarter earnings Thursday, Oct. 29. During the second quarter of 2009, the company reported a net income of $4.7 million compared to a loss of $18.1 million in the same quarter of 2008.
Pinnacle Entertainment operates six casinos in Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, Louisiana, as well as smaller ones in Argentina.
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