Swinerton’s Sure Bet on Tribal Casinos

SAN DIEGO COUNTY  – Swinerton has carved out a niche building, remodeling and renovating tribal casinos in San Diego County.

The company has worked on nearly every major casino in San Diego County, starting in 2005.

“We saw it as an opportunity,” said Stephen Campion, operations manager at Swinerton. “There was really no ‘aha’ moment. It was probably just somebody was looking for a contractor. Our name came up. We connected and it worked out well.”

Since then, Swinerton has worked on more than 20 casino projects, from the Pala Casino & Hotel expansion to the Valley View Casino & Hotel expansion, with several more casino projects in the works.

“We positioned ourselves pretty well, kind of going through the first wave of the expansion, which was the growth of the gaming floor,” Campion said. “Currently, we’re working at five casinos actively, not all large projects. Some smaller projects, but it’s been a good run for us. We really developed a close relationship with the tribes and the operators of the casinos.”

Often, Swinerton won a casino contract “based on having the fastest schedule,” Campion said. More than the cost of the job, “That’s usually the main driver that we see when clients are trying to pick their contractor.”

When the company started working on casinos, “The casinos in town were all relatively small. The deal they had with the state limited the number of slots they were allowed and the type of slots they were allowed,” Campion said. “Over the course of the next 10 to 15 years, they really expanded their gaming presence.”

That was followed by the addition of hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and other amenities and projects that are not directly related to the casinos, like golf courses, medical office buildings and fire stations.

“What we’re starting to see now is the adjacent development,” Campion said. “We’re really seeing that, as their revenues grow, they’re trying to better their communities. That’s kind of the newest phase.”

The COVID-19 pandemic actually helped tribal casinos.

“They’ve seen their best years recently because they gained a whole new clientele base,” Campion said. “A large portion of the folks in Southern California, who do like to game and did like to go to Las Vegas, they still wanted to have that experience, but they weren’t comfortable going to Las Vegas. They started visiting a lot of the local gaming operations.”

Enthusiastic

The biggest challenge to working at casinos is to do the work as quietly and unobtrusively as possible, according to Campion.

“The main focus of the casino operator is not to impact or shut down their operations,” Campion said. “The best way we can approach a project is leave no footprint.”

To accomplish that, Swinerton erects temporary barricades in areas where they’re working in a casino.

“If you didn’t know there was construction going on behind that wall, that’s our goal – no noise, no impact,” Campion said.

To further reduce the inconvenience to casino patrons, Campion said that much of the construction work inside casinos is done between midnight and 8 a.m.

“At that point, their evening players have gone home for the day. That’s when they have their lowest volume,” Campion said.

Campion said that the design of the tribal casinos has changed significantly from the early projects that Swinerton did in San Diego County, becoming increasingly sophisticated.

“It’s not just a box to throw a bunch of games in,” Campion said, adding that newer casinos use a lot of glass and custom woodwork to make them stand out.

“They don’t want their design aesthetic to look like Las Vegas or any other casino, for that matter. What they’re really looking for is creating a resort feel,” Campion said. “Their customer service exceeds Las Vegas because they’re smaller. They’re trying to give people that intimate experience.”

On the gaming floors, slot machines are far bigger.

“It used to be, I could walk out on the gaming floor, and I could see over the slot machines. Some machines are upwards of 12 feet tall. The ceilings had to be raised,” Campion said, adding that many are now 20 feet or higher, making the rooms feel bigger.

Not only are the gaming floor ceilings higher, but they’re often decorative, with high-end millwork, according to Campion, and there’s extra care given to the level of finishes throughout the casinos and related hotels and other property.

“They’re all going for that kind of ‘wow’ factor,” Campion said.

Working with the tribes is special because, “They’re looking at it as, this is their livelihood, what their tribes depend on. You really start to get a good, close relationship with the tribal members.” Campion said.

“The ownership that they feel over a project is at a much higher level than we would normally see in the commercial world,” Campion said. “The passion that they have kind of makes our job a little bit easier, because we get really enthusiastic.”