Apr. 7, 2003 - When the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians opens its new Spa Resort Casino this fall, the casino may find itself competing with one of the tribe's other operations for classiest Coachella Valley casino honors, Tribal Chairman Richard M. Milanovich said. 

The Agua Caliente Band became the first California tribe to operate two casinos when it opened the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage in April 2001. The tribe then turned its attention to planning expansion of its Spa Resort Casino housed in a temporary pavilion. 

The new Spa Resort Casino will comprise 119,000 square feet on 6.8 acres in downtown Palm Springs, occupying a block northeast of the existing Spa Resort Hotel bordered by Amado Road on the north, El Segundo on the east, Andreas Road on the south and Calle Encilia on the west. The site was previously a parking lot. 

"It'll be huge -- a very big draw," said Jeff Hocker, communications director of the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. The casino is "one of our major attractions" and a magnet for bus tours, he said. 

The casino "will create a whole new interest in town," Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Mark Graves said. 

Gambling is a selling point for some convention groups, "but the casino hotel doesn't draw more than other properties," Graves said. 

The Spa Resort Hotel occupies the site of the original Palm Springs thermal mineral spring. The 106-degree water gives the tribe its name: Agua Caliente is Spanish for "hot water." 

The Agua Caliente Band broke ground on the $90 million casino in December; completion is slated for November. Financing was secured from a consortium of banks based on the potential for future earnings, Milanovich said. 

The existing casino employs 860 people; the new facility will add 250 new jobs. 

The existing casino attracts about 10,000 visitors a week and earns "gobs," Milanovich laughed. Tribes keep casino revenue figures secret. 

About 1,000 slot machines and 40 table games will be moved from the existing casino pavilion and card room adjacent to the hotel. An exclusive Salon Priv will offer high-limit slots and table games. 

"We're limited to 2,000 slots between the two [casinos]," Milanovich said. 

The tribe markets the two casinos jointly and offers promotions encouraging patrons to try both venues, said Johnann McIlwain, director of marketing. 

Food venues will include a casual restaurant, a 24-hour food court and a 300-seat buffet. The casino will provide entertainment in a 150-seat lounge. 

The building was designed by entertainment architecture firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo of Costa Mesa, designers of the Palace Tower at Caesar's Palace and The Venetian in Las Vegas. PENTA Building Group Inc. of Las Vegas is the general contractor; System Electric and Magik Glass and Door, both of Palm Springs, are major local subcontractors. Interior designers are Dougall Design of Pasadena. 

"We are serious about creating a unique destination that will transform the region," Milanovich said. 

The destination casino, combined with other Palm Springs attractions, will entice visitors away from Las Vegas, promoters said. 

Both casinos have room to add gaming opportunities if the state and tribes decide to increase the number of tables and slots allowed to each tribe. 

"Many tribes feel they're doing fine with the [current] compact agreement -- it's doing fine for us -- but we'd love to have the ability to have [gaming capacity] market-driven rather that have false limits," Milanovich said. 

Any increase in gambling revenues to the state should be directed solely to gaming administration and compulsive gambling treatment programs; all other revenue sharing should go to nongaming tribes and communities impacted by casino traffic, he said. 

While no tribe divulges financial information, the Agua Caliente Band is considered one of the Southern California's most affluent tribes based on "location, location, location," Milanovich said. The 32,000-acre checkerboard pattern reservation includes portions of the cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage. 

Lease income from property is paid to individual tribal members assigned that property under terms of the 1959 equalization act, he said. The tribe itself has jurisdiction over the six-acre Mineral Springs parcel. Casino revenue provides scholarships, retirement and health care to tribal members as well as a monthly cash stipend to 228 adults among 392 tribal members, Milanovich said. Six tribal members are employed at the casino in various roles. The tribe has other economic enterprises. 

The band's Agua Caliente Development Authority, founded in 1989, purchased the Spa Hotel in 1992. The Spa Casino was added in 1995. In 1998, the economic authority purchased the leasehold interest in the Canyon Hotel and Country Club, which has been razed. 

The tribe is evaluating development plans that could include a nongaming hotel and convention center, golf course and residential condominiums. 

The tribe owns a 45 percent interest in Palm Springs-based Canyon National Bank and three office buildings. 

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(c) 2003, The Business Press, Ontario, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.