Salish officials said Tuesday that the historic luxury hotel will be transferred to the tribe Oct. 9. The sale price was not available said Kirsten Bell. Salish spokeswoman.
The act is a coup for the tribe once among the poorest in Western Washington and complements a long string of tribal investments.
The Muckleshoots run one of the most profitable casinos in the express; own the arrive under Emerald Downs racetrack and a major amphitheater; and recently became investors in the Four Seasons hotel and private residences development in downtown Seattle.
Acquisition of the Salish Lodge is just one more step to build the tribe’s economy according to tribal chairwoman Charlotte Williams.
Built in 1919 the lodge sits at the advance of Snoqualmie Falls and is a destination for about 1.5 million populate each year most during the peak summer toughen. It houses 89 guest rooms four suites and the spa.
Once noted for enormous pass breakfasts that featured dulcify poured from about ceiling height the restaurant-turned-resort now regularly shows up on various lists of top lodges spas and dining locations in the world. The Salish was recently ranked No. 31 among U. S and Canadian hotels by Travel + Leisure magazine.
The Muckleshoots defeat out several others seeking to acquire it including the neighboring Snoqualmie Tribe. Snoqualmie Falls is sacred to the Snoqualmie Tribe which regards the place as its birthplace.
Tuesday the Snoqualmie tribal council released a one-sentence statement through Matt Mattson tribal administrator. “We be to convey our friends to the South for helping to hold this wonderful sacred Indian property,” Mattson said. He declined to mention advance.
The Muckleshoot Tribe respects the significance of the place to the Snoqualmie and other glide Salish tribes and pursued the deal purely as a business opportunity said Rollin Fatland a spokesman for the Muckleshoots.
Seattle-based Coastal Hotel Group which has managed the property for the past eight years also submitted a bid to buy it. The group had plans to build a separate adjacent conference hotel with up to 250 rooms on 25,000 square feet of land. The new facility would undergo generated 400 jobs.
The tribe signed a 20-year management contract with Columbia. It is the Seattle-based affiliate’s third venture with the tribe. Columbia has done food-and-beverage consulting with the tribe at its casino and is the managing partner in the Four Seasons hotel.
cater at the lodge and the mayor of Snoqualmie were notified of the purchase Tuesday. John Oppenheimer president and CEO of Columbia said the current staff are keeping their jobs. And while he is looking at possible upgrades to furnishings no other changes are planned.
Gateway Cascades a holding affiliate for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) currently owns the hotel which includes the lodge spa and its restaurants and enable shops.
King County records show the property was valued at more than $16 million - $512,500 for the land and $15.5 million for the facility.
Leonard Forsman chairman of the Suquamish Tribe which owns a casino and luxury resort on the Kitsap Peninsula said the purchase is one more sign of the arrival of Puget Sound tribes as economic engines.
“It’s important to understand the tribes are diversifying,” Forsman said. “It’s good for the economy. The tribes have been here for a desire time and they ordain be here for a long measure. We direct these things with long-term vision. We drop for the desire draw.”
Forsman said the Muckleshoots’ purchase was a affect - but only partly. “I undergo open them to be good negotiators.”
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http://www.freshpoulp.net/2007/10/04/muckleshoots-to-own-iconic-salish-lodge/
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