Phoenix-based Summit Builders will handle construction for the design of Las Vegas architect Leo A. Daily. The casino is slated for completion in fall 2003. It will feature the usual house bingo, slot machines, restaurant, gift shop, conference rooms, juice bar and tribal offices featuring Native Indian art. A Summit contact tells GlobeSt.com that there have been rumblings that the tribe might be prepping for additional projects although the casino is the only one that's surfaced to date.

The Cocopah reservation is located about 13 miles from Yuma and 180 miles from Phoenix. The tribe has approximately 816 members. The tribe's main economic resource other than gaming is agriculture and it leases acreage to non-Indian farmers. The Cocopah Tribe has well over 4,200 acres under its control.

The contact says the casino job was won through a lengthy bidding process. Summit first had to be pre-qualified by the architect, then submit a bid and finally go through an interview process.

Summit is particularly active, pushing 15 to 20 jobs that are in various stages of construction. Under way is a $15-million, 100-room Wingate Inn & Suites in Goodyear, AZ. The price tag includes site work for developer SunCor and construction of an adjacent 165,000-sf Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. Summit also is in the midst of $10.2-million, 219,622-sf Wal-Mart in Nogales, AZ; a $9-million, 121-room Hilton Garden Inn in Montebello, CA; and the $8-million, 121,200-sf Warner Courtyards office building in Tempe, AZ.