Industry News
Seattle Developer to Build 6 Casino Resorts in Guatemala
Nov 14, 2008
By: Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

An affiliate of Seattle-based Alekson Development Group has signed an agreement with the Guatemalan Gaming Agency that will allow the company to build six casino/hotel/golf destination resorts over the next 10 years.

Fin City Associates is based in Guatemala City and will be starting first on the resort there, with a second phase to consist of developments in Puerto Quetzal, on the Pacific coast, and in Antigua, in the central highlands.

Resorts on Lake Atitlan in the southwestern highlands, a volcanic lake that is Central America’s deepest lake, and in Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean coast and in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan will eventually follow.

An Alekson spokesperson told CPN that land acquisition is under way on all six sites. Information on the size of the resorts was not available at presstime.

Architecture and construction management will be handled by Alekson/GW, an affiliate of Alekson and Group West Cos. Group West has extensive experience designing casinos and resorts, especially those on Native American reservations.

In Guatemala, the spokesperson explained, all gaming licenses are reviewed by and issued through the not-for-profit Fundacion Pediatrica Guatemalteca (Guatemalan Pediatric Foundation), which has had exclusive authority in this area since 1989, under an act of the Guatemalan Congress. The FPG is entitled to a percentage of all casino winnings and uses that funding for education and medical care for Guatemalan children.

 
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