Graton Resort and Casino is one of the Bay Area’s liveliest betting houses, and it has big plans for the future.
Last week, the $825 million casino hosted a ceremony celebrating the beginning of expansion works on its property just outside Rohnert Park.
In total, the Northern California casino is putting $1 billion toward the expansion work.
Here are the details:
Breakdown of planned projects
The first order of construction on the expansion is a new five-story parking structure with solar panels and approximately 1,500 stalls on the easternmost edge of the property. This structure is supposed to connect to the casino via a pedestrian walkway.
Subsequent projects will encompass an expanded casino floor and an additional hotel wing.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the planned projects on the resort:
- A new six-story hotel wing with over 200 rooms
- A 28,000 square-foot rooftop restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating for 480 guests
- A five-level parking structure with solar panels and EV charging stations
- A 3,500-seat theater, anticipated to be bigger than the concert halls at Green Music Center and Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
The project is estimated to generate 2,000 temporary construction jobs. Graton Resort and Casino, which is known as the biggest private employer in Sonoma County, is expected to hire 600 new team members.
Expanding the casino floor
The facility will expand the casino floor by adding approximately 144,000 square feet. In that space, 2,000 new slot machines will be brought in, making the facility the second-largest slot floor in the Golden State. In addition, a new poker room and a new high-limit area are also in the works.
The additional hotel wing will stand six stories tall with 221 rooms. That will bring the total rooms on the property to 421.
By comparison, the next largest hotel property in Sonoma County is the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country Hotel in nearby Santa Rosa with 253 rooms.
A new pool area is also in the pipeline, and is expected to be built south of the existing hotel.
Graton Casino history
Owned and operated by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Graton Resort and Casino began business in 2013. Back then, it ran on 3,000 slot machines and 144 blackjack, poker and baccarat tables. A few restaurants also provided for guests at all hours of the day.
Five years later in 2018, a 200-room hotel was added to the resort along with convention space and a ballroom.
“This is an exciting day and we’re thrilled to begin construction,” Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Tribal Chairman Sarris said in a release. “The expansion reflects our consistent mission to provide the highest quality guest experience at Graton Resort & Casino. We’ve been working on these plans for several years and we’re excited to create new job opportunities here in Sonoma County.”
The project’s architect is Bergman Walls & Associates, and the project developer is ECL Development. The general contractor is SMC Contracting.
