Ameristar to be New Casino Owner in Lake Charles

It may be not be right away, but with the purchase of property being finalized by Ameristar, there could be a lot of new jobs in the lake area.

More jobs is always great news. While we won't see the finished product until late 2014, it will still mean plenty of construction jobs while the work is going on.

This is the Press Release from Ameristar:

Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) announced today it has completed the previously announced purchase of all of the equity interests of Creative Casinos of Louisiana, L.L.C. ("Creative") from Creative Casinos, LLC. for $32.5 million. Ameristar expects to commence construction on July 20, 2012 and to complete the project in the third quarter of 2014.

Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Lake Charles will include a casino with approximately 1,600 slot machines and 60 table games, a hotel with 700 guest rooms (including 70 suites), a variety of food and beverage outlets, an 18-hole golf course, a tennis club, swimming pools, a spa and other resort amenities. It will also include 3,000 parking spaces, 1,000 of which will be in a garage. The resort will be developed on a 242-acre site leased from the Port of Lake Charles. Ameristar has retained Bergman, Walls & Associates as the architect, Meyer & Associates as the civil engineer and W.G. Yates & Sons as the general contractor.

"We're excited about the growth this opportunity will bring to our Company, and for the thousands of construction and permanent jobs we will create in Lake Charles," said Gordon R. Kanofsky, Chief Executive Officer. "In just two years, Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Lake Charles will begin serving southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, including the Houston metropolitan area."