Published May 2003

Success attracts financing boost

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Thanks to years of financial successes with their bingo hall, casino and being able to attract Wal-Mart and Home Depot to their 495-acre business park development, the Tulalip Tribes caught the attention of a national group of financial partners last August.

Led by two major banks — Bank of America and Wells Fargo — the group is bankrolling the accelerated development of Quil Ceda Village with a $120 million loan that will include paying off the construction of the Tulalips’ $72 million casino due to open in June.

Although the initial development of Quil Ceda Village was financed entirely by the tribes’ casino and bingo revenues, the need to finance further growth with a larger resource spurred the Tulalips’ efforts to interest outside financiers.

“We’re very happy and proud that the banks are as excited as we are,” said Tulalip Tribes Chairman Herman Williams Jr. “Our board members and staff worked really hard on this project. We have a ‘fast track’ agreement to pay off the loan (within five years), so we can continue to do even better and greater things for our tribe. This is a sure bet for the banks. And a sure bet for Tulalip.”

The Tulalip Casino’s chief operations officer, Chuck James, called the loans by the group of national banks “an important step and accomplishment toward (successfully building) the tribes’ future.”

Peter Mills, Quil Ceda Village business park manager, said the financial support “speaks volumes to Tulalips’ reputation in the business world. … If you look at the I-5 corridor, Tulalip is on par with ‘the best of the best’ in establishing a regional destination site. The banking community recognizes that.”

John McCoy, the Tulalip Tribes’ executive director of governmental affairs and General Manager of Quil Ceda Village, said the bankers told the tribes the loan was the largest such financing package in Washington state history.

By obtaining the loan, the Tulalips join other large Indian casino operators — such as the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians of California — that have received such large-scale loans from the banks, said McCoy.

McCoy said $72 million is earmarked toward the casino construction project, and $48 million will go for a sewer plant, roads, streets and traffic lights in the surrounding Quil Ceda Village business park. The Tulalips also are paying for design and environmental studies to increase the capacity of I-5 exits 200 and 202.

The bulk of the infrastructure funds will go for a state-of-the-art sewage-treatment plant using a membrane filtration system that will serve the entire village’s present and future development.

Quil Ceda Village is a manifestation of the Tulalips’ drive to diversify their economy to be able to offer other jobs to Native Americans than just at the casino, said McCoy.

Back to the top/Tulalip Casino Main Menu