Another hotel tower is going up at the Osage Casino Hotel north of downtown Tulsa.
Osage Casinos CEO Byron Bighorse said the $160 million complex that opened last September sells out every weekend but doesn’t have enough hotel rooms to keep up with demand.
"We have started construction on our second hotel tower. This means we are investing another $28 million into the property. This hotel tower will be identical to the tower constructed last year, except it will contain 145 hotel rooms," Bighorse said.
The hotel tower built last year had 141 rooms. Bighorse said it finished ahead of schedule and under budget, letting the second tower get started sooner than expected.
Osage Nation Gaming Board Chairman Mark Simms agreed with Bighorse that the new casino and hotel was a hit in its first year.
"It was really good. The next year’s tribal distribution will be far more than this year," Simms said.
Tulsa Regional Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal said the new hotel tower will be a draw for visitors, who Oklahoma spend around $9 billion a year in Oklahoma.
"Investing in tourism infrastructure is a benefit to us all. It’s a benefit to local communities. It’s a benefit to the tribe," Neal said.
The new hotel tower should be open by fall 2020.