After breaking ground in December, construction on the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is clearly visible in Kern County.
If you travel near the facility, chances are you’ll see steel infrastructure going up and machinery moving earth.
It’s exhilarating, Candi Asuncion of the Tejon Indian Tribe told 23ABC in Bakersfield.
“Anything that we see out there new, we get really excited about.”
Resort will be built in two phases
Once it opens, the Hard Rock Tejon will be just the second Hard Rock casino in California, joining Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain. There are more than 75 tribal-operated casinos in the state, while California online casinos remain illegal.
The Hard Rock Tejon’s roots travel back two years, to June 2022, when California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a gaming compact with the Tejon Tribe. Three months later, state lawmakers signed off on the project.
Construction will occur in two phases. The first phase consists of building the 150,000-square-foot casino floor and food and beverage venues, including a Hard Rock Cafe. The casino floor will house 3,000 slot machines and 48 table games.
The second construction phase will focus on a 400-room hotel, a 2,800-seat Hard Rock live event center, a pool, fitness facility, and a spa.
Resort will give area an economic boost
The Hard Rock Tejon is about 25 minutes south of Bakersfield off Highway 99. It’s a couple hours from both Los Angeles and Fresno.
Bakersfield Chief Economic Development Officer Jim Damian told Bakersfield Now the resort will fit in perfectly with nearby development.
“We think it’s a great location, and we really think it complements the whole environment out there with what’s going on with the Tejon Commerce Center, Tejon outlet malls, and other planned amenities. So, we love the location, and there’s still room to grow and development for more entertainment in our area.”
The Tejon Commerce Center boasts roughly 7 million square feet of industrial, commercial, and retail space. That space could grow by 2.5 million over time.
The major selling point of the casino was the new jobs it would create, Damian said.
“We’re going to be creating a lot of jobs due to the investment by the tribe and the casino, the Hard Rock brand, (and) it’s going to create about 5,000 new jobs. That’s very important and very impressive for our region. It’s a great day, a great year, and a great period of time for us to celebrate.”
Historically, Kern County has struggled to find solid revenue streams outside of agriculture and oil. It’s estimated that more than 12 million California residents are within reasonable driving distance of the resort.
In 2022, after the project was green-lighted, Kern County CAO Ryan Alsop said it would have a major impact on the area.
“This is much more than just a casino. This is a catalyst project for Kern County in many ways.”
