Developer who clashed with Catawba Nation pushes for South Carolina’s first legal casino
The developer who broke ties with the Catawba Nation’s casino project over an unlawful ownership agreement is now pushing for legislation that would allow him to build South Carolina’s first legal casino.
Wallace Cheves, a politically connected conservative megadonor and businessman, intends to build a $1 billion casino off Interstate 95 in Santee, a town between Columbia and Charleston in Orangeburg County. His development group pitched the casino as a “transformative” resort that could drive the economy in an underprivileged area without spending any tax dollars to get it started.
The Catawba Nation sees the announcement as the latest in a series of attempts to exploit the tribe, according to Chief Brian Harris. He said Cheves is trying to “ramrod” a casino into the Palmetto State while the Catawba have been mired in a lengthy process to launch its own South Carolina casino.
The Catawba Nation has approximately 3,300 citizens and is based on a reservation near Rock Hill. The tribe opened a temporary, single-level casino in Kings Mountain in 2021 and is constructing a permanent $700 million facility that’s projected to open its first phase early next year.
Harris said his tribe still wants gaming permission in its home state, too.
“The Catawba Nation, despite being a federally recognized Native American tribe in South Carolina, has for 30 years been prohibited from operating casino gaming on its lands,” Harris said in a written statement. “We have renewed those efforts to reverse this injustice in the state and are in the process of working toward a fairer settlement agreement that would allow us to operate casino gaming and give our people more opportunity for economic development.”
Former Catawba casino developer
Cheves and the Catawba Nation have a contentious history. One of his development organizations, SkyBoat, helped the tribe acquire 17 acres for Two Kings Casino in North Carolina before their relationship soured.
The National Indian Gaming Commission in 2022 found the development contract between Catawba and SkyBoat violated federal law because it gave SkyBoat too much power over the project, which was supposed to benefit Catawba citizens. The two parties finalized a private settlement last year that removed the firm from any interest in Two Kings Casino.
Cheves also clashed with the tribe after Kings Mountain Land Development Partners, which he has a stake in, bought the land surrounding the North Carolina casino and offered to lease it to the tribe for $6 million a year. Catawba Chief Brian Harris previously told the Observer that was too much. That land included the parking lot and property to support future expansion.
Then in December, Kings Mountain Land Development Partners sued the tribe over trespassing and property damage claims. The tribe wrongfully removed dirt, crushed rock to convert it into road material and improperly altered drainage on the property “as if it belonged to the tribe,” the lawsuit said.
The Catawba Nation has planned to develop a casino in Santee since the mid-2000s, Harris said.
While Cheves was still working with the tribe as its casino developer, Harris said Cheves purchased the abandoned Santee Outlet Mall in Orangeburg County without telling them. State and local records show Cheves’ attorney as the registered agent for the company that purchased property Dec. 16, 2022, which was nine days after the gaming commission announced his agreement with the tribe violated the law.
“It is another example of Cheves’ trying to take advantage of the Catawba, just as he did by trapping us into an unfavorable ownership agreement and land-locked trust lands at Kings Mountain,” Harris said.
The Catawba Nation declined to provide The Herald additional information.
Cheves did not respond to a request for comment. A representative with his development company referred The Herald to a written statement about the casino but declined declined an interview with Cheves until the project progresses.
South Carolina bill to allow first casino
The South Carolina Legislature bill, called the “I-95 Economic and Education Stimulus Act,” would exempt impoverished counties along I-95 from South Carolina’s casino gaming ban in an attempt to stimulate their economies. The Orangeburg Times and Democrat first reported the bill.
Dillon, Marlboro and Orangeburg are the only counties that currently meet that criteria, according to the bill’s sponsor, Chris Murphy, R-Dorchester.
His bill would also establish a South Carolina gaming commission to award casino licenses and oversee the state’s gaming operations.
Murphy said he had already been trying to legalize sports gaming when Cheves approached him for support. But his bill doesn’t give preference to Cheves nor any other developer, Murphy said. Anybody, including the Catawba Nation, could put in a bid for a casino in eligible counties.
The bill is in committee and still needs to pass both the House and the Senate. If lawmakers sign off, then voters will have final say on whether to approve a referendum to change the state’s constitution and allow gambling.
It’s an uphill battle, but Murphy said he thinks the odds are in his favor.
“I’m gonna say 60/40 that it’ll pass,” Murphy said. “Just based on the fact that when people look at what’s gonna be generated and the benefits for the entire state of South Carolina, I just don’t think that that’s something you can ignore.”
Cheves’ casino resort would include a hotel, spa, restaurants and retail spaces, according to Santee Development Corporation, the development group leading the project. Private investment would fund the $1 billion casino without subsidies or incentives. The casino is projected to bring more than $75 million in tax revenue each year and would create more than 4,500 jobs annually, the group said.
All of that tax revenue would go directly into the state’s general fund to improve infrastructure like bridges, roads and airports across the state, Murphy said.
“For decades we’ve commissioned studies, convened task forces and made unfulfilled promises to better South Carolina’s most disadvantaged areas with few results,” Santee Development Corporation’s website says. “It’s time to stop kicking the same can down the road and take a new approach – to think differently and with an open mind.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Developer who clashed with Catawba Nation pushes for South Carolina’s first legal casino."
