The new financing adds to the more than $1 billion in Indian gaming finance transactions that have been completed by Miller & Schroeder, including approximately $130 million in financing for tribal-owned casinos in California.
The new Agua Caliente Casino, scheduled to open in May 2001, is a 138,000-square-foot-facility which will feature 950 class III slot machines, 40 table games, a 15,000 square foot entertainment and bingo room, a 450-seat buffet area and two leased restaurants.

Richard Milanovich, Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band, said, �We are very pleased to complete this important financial transaction.  We are excited about our new destination facility, located on Interstate-10 near Palm Springs, and what it means for both the local economy and for the Agua Caliente Band.

�Miller & Schroeder has done a highly effective job of putting this financing together on our behalf and we gratefully acknowledge their professionalism and commitment to our project,� Milanovich said.  �Importantly, with this form of financing, we are able to achieve our objective of operating the casino with Agua Caliente Band management.�
 

Jeffrey Lamb, First Vice President of Miller & Schroeder Financial�s office in Phoenix, said, �We very much appreciate the confidence placed in us by the Agua Caliente Band and are proud of the contribution we have made to the opening of this new and exciting casino.� Patty Fredericks, First Vice President of Miller & Schroeder Financial, stated, �The professionalism and integrity of Max Ross, Chief Financial Officer of the Agua Caliente Band, and the entire Agua Caliente team truly aided our efforts in successfully completing this financing.  We are proud to have had this opportunity to work so closely and so successfully with the Band.� Steven W. Erickson, Managing Director of Miller & Schroeder Financial and head of the firm�s Gaming Finance Division, said, �This very successful financing further solidifies our position as the industry leader in Indian gaming financing, and underscores our ongoing commitment to build this area of Miller & Schroeder�s business.� Miller & Schroeder Financial, Inc., specializes primarily in fixed income

Centuries ago, ancestors of the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians settled in the Palm Springs area. They developed complex communities in the Palm, Murray, Andreas, Tahquitz, and Chino Canyons. With abundant water supply, plant and animal life, the Cahuilla Indians thrived.  They grew crops of melons, squash, beans, and corn, gathered plants and seeds for food, medicines and basket weaving and hunted animals. Today, remains of Cahuilla society like rock art, housepits and foundations, irrigation ditches, dams, reservoirs, trails, and food preparation areas still exist in the canyons. The Agua Caliente Indians were industrious and creative with a reputation for independence, integrity, and peace. They believed this productive land of their ancestors would always be theirs. However, in 1876 the U.S. Federal Government deeded in trust to the Agua Caliente people 32,000 acres to be used as their homeland. At the same time, they gave the Southern California Railroad ten miles of odd sections of land to induce them to build the railroad. Of the reservations's 32,000 acres, some 6,700 lie within the Palm Springs city limits. The remaining sections fan across the desert and mountains in a checker-board pattern.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, located in the Palm Springs area of Southern California, has approximately 360 enrolled members.  The Band also operates the Spa Casino, opened in 1995 at the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs.