Port, Pinnacle, Creative Announce Settlement

With the Election just right around the corner, breaking news was released about the Port, Pinnacle & Creative Casino's issue on property.

The following is a news release from the Port of Lake Charles, Pinnacle Entertainment and Creative Casinos:

PINNACLE ENTERTAINMENT, CREATIVE CASINOS AND LAKE CHARLES HARBOR AND TERMINAL DISTRICT ANNOUNCE SETTLEMENT OF OUTSTANDING LITIGATION

LAS VEGAS, NV and LAKE CHARLES, LA, April 26, 2011 – Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK), Creative Casinos LLC, and the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District announced today a comprehensive settlement agreement that will resolve all litigation between the parties and lays the foundation for Lake Charles to become the preeminent casino resort destination in the South.

Pinnacle Entertainment owns and operates L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, the leading casino resort in Louisiana, offering 1,000 spacious rooms and suites, an exciting full-service casino, meeting space, a world-class salon and spa, a Tom Fazio-designed golf course and other amenities including a 1,400-seat entertainment venue and ten innovative dining outlets. Creative Casinos was recently selected by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to develop Mojito Pointe, a 400-room casino hotel on a site adjacent to L'Auberge. The District is a state agency charged with fostering economic development in Southwest Louisiana, and also leases to Pinnacle and Creative the combined 500-acre site that L'Auberge occupies and Mojito Pointe plans to develop.

As part of the agreement, Pinnacle Entertainment and Creative Casinos have agreed to create and jointly operate festival grounds on shared acreage between the L'Auberge du Lac and Mojito Pointe sites. The festival grounds will be available for entertainment and community events and, along with a customer roadway and pedestrian walkway, will connect the two resorts.

The District is also exchanging land that it owns at the entrance of L'Auberge du Lac for land owned by Pinnacle along the Interstate 210 corridor. In addition to allowing Pinnacle to improve access to L'Auberge, the land exchange allows Creative to facilitate public access to its resort and helps both companies improve the transportation network of the community. Some of the land will also be used for the Mojito Pointe golf course.

"Resolution of these issues will allow Lake Charles to improve its position as the South's leading gaming resort destination," stated Pinnacle Entertainment President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Sanfilippo. "The region continues to show economic growth and this agreement ensures that L'Auberge will continue to be at the heart of it."

"We're committed to making Mojito Pointe a world-class casino resort that will complement the L'Auberge experience, making Lake Charles itself a must-visit gaming destination," stated Daniel R. Lee, Managing Partner of Creative Casinos. "The two resorts will be close enough to be accessed easily from one to the other and the intervening space will be used primarily for a park-like setting and an entertainment and event area. We also look forward to working with Pinnacle to cooperatively expand Lake Charles's reputation as a leading resort and entertainment destination."

Construction of Mojito Pointe is expected to start later this year, pending voter approval, with completion in 2013. The Mojito Pointe local referendum in Calcasieu Parish is scheduled for April 30.

"With this agreement, it is even more important that people in Calcasieu Parish vote on April 30," said Dan Lee. "We hope to keep the region's economic momentum moving in the right direction and this agreement really helps us to create a destination that is very special."

via Port, Pinnacle, Creative announce settlement of litigation - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana.

What do you think of L'Auberge & Mojito Pointe now teaming up in a partnership???