January 28, 2005
Santa Fe developer Gerald Peters and two Albuquerque gambling consultants bid for the management contract of Nambé Pueblo's new casino. But the tribe has chosen a Las Vegas, Nev., company instead.

The nine-member tribal council, with one member who declined to vote, agreed late Thursday night to approve Nambé Gov. Tom Talache Jr.'s recommendation to award the contract to Full House Resorts Inc. Former Chrysler Corp. chairman Lee Iaccocca is a director in the company that will manage and finance the $30 million Stargate Casino at Cuyamungue between Santa Fe and Española.

Peters, a Santa Fe art and real-estate mogul, had approached the tribe last Friday with a proposal for the contract. "He's very successful in business, a local and politically savvy," Talache said. "Many items in his proposal were valuable to consider, but unfortunately we have spent a lot more time with Full House."

The tribe has worked with the Las Vegas company -- which has gambling development projects in Delaware, Oregon and Michigan -- since June. Talache declined to offer details of Peters' offer. The businessman could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Eighteen companies bid on the contract, and the tribe narrowed the field to three finalists, including an Albuquerque company called DSG, which worked with Laguna Pueblo on its casinos, and Final Resort, another Albuquerque company, Talache said.

He said the tribe had also allowed Peters to present his proposal at the 11th hour. Peters also hopes to open a casino in Southern New Mexico with Jemez Pueblo.

Full House hired a private company to study whether the market could support a new casino, Talache said, a deciding factor in Full House's being chosen. "They did their homework."

Stargate, which Nambé hopes to open in summer 2006, will be in competition with four other casinos within 20 miles. Nambé will be the 14th of New Mexico's 19 tribes to operate a casino.

Nambé's project includes a children's entertainment center with a space-age theme to set its casino apart from others. The first phase of the casino, which will take more than a year to construct, includes the center, a fine-dining restaurant, a buffet and gift shop. Activities for children will include a roller coaster, bumper cars, a video arcade, a paintball field and an indoor water park with a beach.

Water will be recycled at the park. Talache said he is unsure how much water the park will use but said the tribe has sufficient water rights for the project.

A second phase of the project could include a hotel.

The 50,000-square-foot gambling center, which will be constructed on 15 acres along U.S. 84/285, will provide between 400 and 500 jobs.

Stargate will have 500 slot machines and eight table games. Talache also wants to place slotlike video bingo games at the casino. Tribes don't share with the state proceeds from such games ---- called Class II games.

San Juan Pueblo recently decided not to put Class II machines in its casino at the request of Gov. Bill Richardson. Talache wants to discuss the subject with the governor, he said.

Nambé is also renegotiating a 1997 gambling compact it signed with the state to reduce the state's share of slot-machine proceeds from 16 to 8 percent, the figure other tribes with casinos pay.

In addition, the tribe must negotiate final details of its contract with Full House. In early discussions, Nambé agreed to give Full House 30 percent of the project's proceeds. Those figures could change, Talache said.

The tribal council also voted to create a five-member gaming commission and a five-member gaming enterprise board to serve as consultants on the venture. "We're looking for tribal members and recruits in our community who have experience in gaming, finance or business," Talache said.