The Choctaw tribe is set to open its $238 million casino and resort in Hochatown, southeast Oklahoma, in May. The new casino’s location, off Highway 259, is a popular getaway destination for North Texans. The property will be less than four hours from Dallas and about two hours east of the tribe’s flagship casino and resort in Durant.
According to local reports, Choctaw Landing is expected to do a soft opening in April, followed by its grand opening ceremony in May. This will be the tribe’s fourth casino and resort and eighth gaming facility overall.
Dallas News cited Amy Davis, General Manager of Choctaw Landing, who said: “We’ve been communicating about spring of this year. Definitely by the month of April. We’re right around the corner.”
The new resort will stretch across 202,000 square feet, and its construction began in June 2022. It will feature 100 hotel rooms, 600 slot machines, eight table games, a fitness center, and a pool. The facility will also have three conference rooms, four dining options, a small grocery store, a Starbucks, and an outdoor amphitheater.
Additionally, the company has commissioned hundreds of pieces of art from local artists for the property. Paintings and sculptures from members of the Choctaw Nation will be displayed throughout the resort, paying homage to their Native American background.
“We are really incorporating our tribal Choctaw culture here. Choctaw Nation has a long history in Hochatown. Most of our tribal members still live around here in the proximity of Hochatown,” Davis said. “It’s something we try to represent at all our resorts, but it was something we knew we wanted to represent here. It’s a perfect fit for us.”
Hochatown, which is now a resort area close to Broken Bow Lake, was originally settled by the Choctaw Nation in the 1820s. The town and its McCurtain County are a tourist destination for Texans attracted by luxury cabins, boating, and fishing.
According to the report, Choctaw’s Hochatown gaming facility alone is expected to add 443,000 annual visitors to the region. The town has over 2,000 active Airbnb listings with some even inside lavish $1 million rental homes, according to The New York Times.
With the expected influx of thousands of visitors, bringing the town infrastructure up to the standards was the biggest challenge faced by the Choctaw while building the resort. “It’s a very remote, resort type of destination and Hochatown is growing so much every day,” Davis said. “One of the things we noticed in trying to build this facility properly is how much the infrastructure was lacking.”
Among Choctaw’s attempts to bring Hochatown’s infrastructure to the right standard was its $7 million investment contributing towards road construction, a wastewater treatment plant, and improvements to the region’s fire department and utility services.
According to Davis, Choctaw has also partnered with Choctaw Electric Cooperative and Western Farmers Electric Cooperative to build an electrical substation, which will help serve Hochatown’s residents and any businesses within a six-mile radius.
Mayor Dian Jordan told the publication that Choctaw is helping to fill important gaps amid a tourism boom in Hochatown, which wasn’t reestablished as an incorporated municipality with a population of about 240 full-time residents until 2022.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. We’ve never collected taxes in this town until the past few months. So everyone looks around and thinks there’s a ton of money and we haven’t really had it historically,” she said. “That’s going to be our biggest challenge over the next few years. We have to wait for the money to come.”
Jeremy Whitaker, regional director of marketing for Choctaw Casinos and Resorts, spoke about potential competition, as gambling interests push for casino legalization in neighboring Texas.
“As any smart business would do, we know there are competitors and noncompetitors in the future. I don’t think we’re worried about it. But we’ve thought about it and we are aware that it is on the radar,” he said.
The casino and resort are expected to bring 400 jobs to southeast Oklahoma and contribute $95 million to the region’s economy.
“Without us being incorporated, there were no rules, no building codes, no infrastructure,” Jordan said. “Jelly Roll said it took him 20 years to become an overnight sensation and it’s the same for us in Hochatown. There are things we’re building now we couldn’t have dreamed of before.”
