New casino proposal in Louisiana

Peninsula Pacific, a Los Angeles-based company, is reportedly going ahead with its proposal to construct a casino in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. In a meeting with officials and community members in Hammond, the company officials revealed that the new casino would have indoor and outdoor event centres.

The company – that already owns one of Louisiana’s 15 riverboat casino licences for DiamondJacks Casino & Hotel in Bossier City – wants to build in Tangipahoa Parish as it would allow them to capture some of the gambling traffic that goes to Mississippi. CEO Brent Stevens told WBRZ: “We want to bring it to a place where we can recapture some of the migration that is going to Mississippi.”

The facility would include a 27,000 square feet gaming floor with 800 slot machines and 25 card tables. Stevens said that it would also feature a 200-room hotel, but he is still trying to recruit other developers to build two additional hotels at the same location. The US$100 million investment would produce 500 permanent jobs with an average of $35,000 a year in salary and benefits per job.

Local media reported that if the company’s attempt to move to Tangipahoa Parish does not obtain legislative and voter approval, they would expand the DiamondJacks facility in Bossier City but that the Tangipahoa location is the preferred site.