Gun Lake Casino in Michigan to Begin $300m Expansion

  • A new hotel with 252 rooms and 15 stories is part of the expansion project
  • The ground breaking for the expansion will take place on Thursday
  • Gun Lake Casino hopes to complete all of the expansion work by March 2025
  • There have been plans to develop a hotel at the casino for a number of years
Shovel breaking ground
Gun Lake Casino is breaking ground on a $300m expansion project on Thursday. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

A significant addition

The Gun Lake Casino in Grand Rapids, Michigan is set to get a $300m makeover. There will be a ground breaking on Thursday to mark the beginning of the expansion work that will add a new 15-story hotel with 252 rooms and a 32,000 square-foot aqua dome that will contain three pools. Included will be luxury suites and a full-service spa.

could have a local economic impact of $650m

The goal of the expansion is to turn the property into “the entertainment destination of the Midwest.” According to a Gun Lake Casino spokesperson, the latest expansion work could have a local economic impact of $650m. Further details regarding the expansion will be revealed during the ground breaking event on Thursday. The ceremony will begin at 11am and will take place in the west parking lot of the casino.

Latest expansion effort

The original announcement of the Gun Lake expansion came in April 2021. The current timeline is for the work to be finished by March 2025. It is not the first bit of renovation work that Gun Lake Casino has committed to in recent times.

Owned by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, Gun Lake Casino opened in 2011.

A $100m renovation project at the property only finished in September 2021. That particular work saw more space added to the casino floor, allowing for 500 more slot machines, over a dozen new table games, a sports betting area, and three restaurants.

A long time coming

One of the main plans for a number of years has been for the tribe to add a hotel and resort to the property. Patrons who currently want to have an extended experience at the casino need to secure lodging or a hotel room elsewhere.

Gun Lake Casino currently employs about 1,200 people and has regularly been voted as one of the best places to work in West Michigan.

Since opening in 2011, Gun Lake Casino has donated over $2.6m to local community programs. It has also made over $166m in revenue-sharing payments to the state during the same period of time. In return for the revenue share payments, the tribe gets exclusive gaming rights in its competitive market area.

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