BATON ROUGE, LA-Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. filed a petition with the Louisiana Gaming Control Board for permission to move a riverboat casino license from Lake Charles to Baton Rouge. The petition comes close to two months after the Las Vegas-based entertainment company's acquisition of two land tracts for a future resort and entertainment complex.
Before the board decides on the license's future, the state's attorney general will investigate the petition. Approval of the plan would pave the way to Baton Rouge's third riverboat casino, though it's uncertain how long the approval process will take.
A month ago, a subsidiary of Pinnacle acquired a 35-acre tract on the south side, on River Road, and placed an adjacent 18 acres under contract. Speculation is that the latter will likely be used for the riverboat's dock, if all goes according to plan. Representatives from Pinnacle could not be reached by press time.
Several months ago, Pinnacle acquired licenses for two Lake Charles riverboats from Harrah's Entertainment Inc. in a swap for Pinnacle's Biloxi, MS properties. Pinnacle has not said what it plans to do with the second license.
Pinnacle already owns the L'Auberge du Lac Hotel & Casino at 777 Avenue L'Auberge in Lake Charles, and plans to build another casino resort, the $350 million Sugarcane Bay at 505 N. Lakeshore Dr. next to L'Auberge Du Lac. Groundbreaking on Sugarcane Bay is pending parish voter approval in a Nov. 7 election.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.