The Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington paid $50.8 million for a 56-acre parcel that a former business partner bought for $3.8 million just three years ago.

Tribal administrator Matt Mattson said the price was a "tough pill to swallow." But it was the only way for the tribe to end its relationship with MGU Development.

"Do I think we paid too much? We really had no choice," Mattson told The Seattle Times.

MGU financed the tribe's casino proposal. The effort succeeded when the Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed to take the 56 acres into trust for gaming purposes.

But MGU pulled out amid a bankruptcy filing. The tribe still owed the company at least $25 million in development costs.

The tribe gained federal recognition in 1999. Gaming is allowed on the land due to the initial reservation exception in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The tribe has been raising money to build the 170,000-square-foot casino.

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High price of casino site is "tough pill" (The Seattle Times 10/24)