Board wants more details from Pinnacle

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has given Pinnacle Entertainment another extension to turn in construction documents for its casino resort on River Road, but in the meantime the board wants to know more about how much progress the company is making. Pinnacle says the current state of the capital markets prevent the company from getting financing at a rate that makes sense for the project. Company officials proposed a timeline of when it expects to reach certain milestones that are within their control, such as filing needed documents with the Army Corps of Engineers and issuing requests for proposals, culminating in the submission of construction contracts to the board on March 31. Those contracts would have been due next month. Instead, the board granted an extension until Nov. 5. But by Oct. 6, they want to see a detailed timeline of everything Pinnacle has done or plans to do since it approved the resort in September 2007, including steps taken to get approval from the Corps, local government and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The board will take up the issue again at its next meeting Oct. 20. “We’re certainly doing as well as anyone can in this [financing] environment,” says Jack Godfrey, Pinnacle’s executive vice president and general counsel. “We’re pleased to provide the board with whatever level of detail that they require.” Pinnacle still hopes to get the March 31 extension; approval of construction documents triggers the start of construction, and construction would likely take at least 18 months. Today’s extension was the third granted for the River Road project.—David Jacobs