Cherokee Nation Announces $170M Retail Development For Tahlequah

The Cherokee Nation is ready to go with a big retail and hospitality development. It's a $170 million project and it will bring restaurants, shopping and a whole lot more to Tahlequah.

Tribal leaders said the new development, called Cherokee Springs Plaza, will be a showplace for the Cherokee Nation, pumping in millions of dollars for the area economy.

"Another great day in the Cherokee Nation,” said Chief Bill John Baker.

On a rainy day, the Cherokee Nation made an announcement sure to brighten many days to come. The tribe will build a massive $170 million retail and hospitality development.

"$170 million worth of investment in one shot and not a lot of town's Tahlequah's size can talk about that very often, so we consider ourselves pretty fortunate,” said Tahlequah Mayor, Jason Nichols.

Cherokee Springs Plaza will be built on 154 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to Cherokee Springs Golf Course.

Baker said having a development on the last large piece of property in the capitol of the Cherokee Nation is a great opportunity.

The site is expected to have 1.3 million square feet of mixed use space.

The current Cherokee Casino in Tahlequah will eventually move to the new location, with the existing casino converted into a bigger and better site for the Cherokee youth immersion school.

Plus the development will have restaurants, shopping, a new convention center and hotel.

"We've got all these things that draw people to Tahlequah, but what we don't have is a resort atmosphere, where local folks and folks coming in can really have fine dining,” Baker said.

Infrastructure work will be the first phase, then the casino and resort hotel. The final phase includes creating retail space, all the while creating jobs over the next five to seven years of construction and beyond.

"We're very excited,” Nichols said. “We know that hundreds of new jobs will take an already healthy Tahlequah economy and kick it into high gear."

Cherokee Nation businesses have already been contacted by a number of restaurant groups and retailers interested in locating in the new development.