Arkansas: Saracen Casino Resort drawing closer to completion of new hotel and event center

The new hotel and event center at Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas is drawing closer to completion. The development, expected to open in 2025, is set to drive revenue and job creation in the area, according to the property's management

"You know a 200 to 300 hundred-foot tower crane in southeastern Arkansas is something that hasn't happened in a while," Carlton Saffa, the Chief Market Officer (CMO) for Saracen, told THV11. "This completes the package that has been a long-awaited process between COVID, hyperinflation, bank issues, and everything else. This should've happened a couple of years ago."

Saffa also told the news channel that the new development will be a great economic benefit for the city of Pine Bluff. "I think this community is absolutely on the upswing, " he said. "What we have seen is that this building is a source of pride for Pine Bluff and Jefferson County."

Currently, Saracen Casino, located 40 minutes away from Little Rock, employs close to 800 employees and 70% of them are from Jefferson County. The resort aims to continue that trend with its newest project.

At the event center, Saracen plans to bring big headliners, while the 323-room hotel will allow its guests to have somewhere to stay without having to travel far. 

"Every time I come to work it seems like something has changed. We're going up with a new floor every nine days, weather permitting. 14 days at the max," Saffa concluded. "We'll be done in the fall of 2025. So here we sit in late July, we got a little over a year left and a couple of months."

The three casinos operating in Arkansas are Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, and Southland Casino Hotel in West Memphis. Earlier in April, Saracen reached out to regulators for an expansion of its offerings with a request to amend state regulations to allow online gambling. 

In March, Saffa submitted a formal request to the Arkansas Racing Commission seeking authorization to introduce iGaming in the Natural State. Currently, Arkansas permits online sports betting but restricts traditional casino games like slots and blackjack to brick-and-mortar establishments.