Aug. 27–A “soft” opening is scheduled today for the 200-room hotel at Pinnacle Entertainment’s River City Casino in south St. Louis County.
The hotel is the third and final part in River City expansion projects Pinnacle announced nearly two years ago. Already open as parts of the $82 million expansion are a 1,600-car parking garage and an events center.
Hotel construction produced 350 jobs, said Pinnacle spokeswoman Candice Coleman, adding that the hotel has 100 permanent employees. Official hotel opening ceremonies will be held Sept. 16, she said.
Gambling industry analysts have said River City needed a hotel to attract overnight customers from outside the St. Louis region.
River City, which opened in 2010, has outperformed the glitzier Lumiere Place on the St. Louis riverfront. Pinnacle owns both properties, but the Las Vegas-based company plans to sell Lumiere Place, which has two hotels, to Tropicana Entertainment for $260 million.
Sale of Lumiere Place is related to Pinnacle’s $2.8 billion acquisition of Ameristar Casinos. Federal antitrust regulators moved this spring to block the sale because it would have put under Pinnacle ownership three of the St. Louis area’s six casinos.
To eliminate regulators’ concerns, Pinnacle agreed to sell Lumiere Place. After that sale is concluded, Pinnacle will still have more than a third of the area’s gambling market through the River City and Ameristar St. Charles casinos.
