{"id":244425,"date":"2022-11-21T13:14:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T19:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=244425"},"modified":"2022-11-21T13:42:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T19:42:26","slug":"hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval, $600M Casino Cleared for Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction. That’s after the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to take about 320 acres of land owned by the Tejon Indian Tribe into the federal trust.<\/p>\n

\"Hard
An artist’s rendering of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon. The California tribal gaming project is officially cleared to begin construction after receiving the blessing of the US Department of the Interior. (Image: Tejon Indian Tribe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For nearly a decade, the Tejon Indian Tribe, one of California’s many federally recognized Native American tribes, has been seeking to have its acquired land in Mettler placed on the Federal Register. The federal distinction is needed to allow the state to enter into a Class III gaming compact with the tribe. That would allow its envisioned tribal casino to house and operate Las Vegas-style slot machines and table games.<\/p>\n

\n

The Tejon Tribe signed its Class III compact<\/a> with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in June. The revenue-sharing gaming agreement becomes valid with the federal approval news.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“The Tejon Tribe now has a homeland where its citizens can work and live together and collectively ensure a safe and economic environment for all,” said Tejon Indian Tribe Chair Octavio Escobedo III.<\/p>\n

Tribal Economic Security<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Tejon Indian Tribe claims to have established California’s first Native American reservation in 1853. The tribal reservation, however, was dissolved in 1864, with Tejon tribal members forcibly removed from the land.<\/p>\n

\n

Three years after regaining federal recognition in 2012, the tribe was able to purchase the 320 acres of vacant land in Kern County, roughly 25 minutes south of Bakersfield. The federal trust process, stalled by changing presidential administrations and a global pandemic, resulted in the Tejons only now having their property deemed sovereign. That’s after federal DOI bureaucrats said the tribe sufficiently demonstrated historical ties to the land in question.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With the feds’ backing, the tribe and development partner Hard Rock International, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, can begin construction on the $600 million casino complex.<\/p>\n

\n

Soon, construction will begin on our region’s very own Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, with Kern County now joining an elite circle of cities that provide this tourism hub to their community and visitors,” Kern County spokesperson Ally Soper said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Newsom said in a release that California “is proud” of the work it’s doing to assure tribal prosperity, while simultaneously mitigating potential negative societal impacts of casino gambling.<\/p>\n

The casino is expected to generate more than 3,000 new jobs, most of which will be filled by non-Tejon tribal members<\/a>. The Tejon tribe counts only about 1,200 members.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Groundbreaking on Hard Rock Tejon is likely next summer, with construction expected to take several years to complete.<\/p>\n

Casino Community<\/b><\/h2>\n

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is to occupy 52 acres of the newly deemed sovereign territory. The resort will be headlined by an 11-story, 400-room hotel, with a 165,500-square-foot casino housing more than 3,000 slot machines and table game positions.<\/p>\n

The resort will offer 13 food and beverage venues, a spa and salon, a fitness center, a Hard Rock Live entertainment space, a resort-style pool complex, and meeting and convention space.<\/p>\n

\n

The rest of the sovereign land encompassing the casino resort will serve as the tribe’s community. About 102 acres will be dedicated to residential housing, 25 acres will serve the tribe’s government, and 43 acres will be set aside for organic farming.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A 22-acre RV parking lot and 29-acre community park are also planned. A 13-acre water detention and wastewater reclamation facility is additionally included in the tribal blueprint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction. That’s after the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to take about 320 acres of land owned by the Tejon Indian Tribe into the federal trust. For nearly a decade, the Tejon Indian Tribe, one of California’s many federally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":244441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13592,18456],"tags":[81905,82421,13721,83819],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval for $600M Casino Development<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction after the US Department of the Interior signed off on the project.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval for $600M Casino Development\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction after the US Department of the Interior signed off on the project.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-21T19:14:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-21T19:42:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/\",\"name\":\"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval for $600M Casino Development\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-21T19:14:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-21T19:42:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction after the US Department of the Interior signed off on the project.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"An artist's rendering of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon. The California tribal gaming project is officially cleared to begin construction after receiving the blessing of the US Department of the Interior. (Image: Tejon Indian Tribe)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tribal Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval, $600M Casino Cleared for Construction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval for $600M Casino Development","description":"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction after the US Department of the Interior signed off on the project.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval for $600M Casino Development","og_description":"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction after the US Department of the Interior signed off on the project.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-11-21T19:14:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-21T19:42:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/","name":"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval for $600M Casino Development","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-21T19:14:19+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-21T19:42:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon is officially cleared to begin construction after the US Department of the Interior signed off on the project.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Untitled-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"An artist's rendering of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon. The California tribal gaming project is officially cleared to begin construction after receiving the blessing of the US Department of the Interior. (Image: Tejon Indian Tribe)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-tejon-gains-federal-approval-600m-casino-development\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tribal Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Hard Rock Tejon Gains Federal Approval, $600M Casino Cleared for Construction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}