A convenience store and gas station opened at Cowlitz Crossing near the casino site in 2019. The casino expanded its dining options and opened a new ballroom and business meeting center in 2018. An estimated 15,000 people attended the casino's opening day. The casino opened on April 24, 2017, filling its 3,000-stall parking lot and causing a 8-mile-long (13 km) traffic jam on Interstate 5 reaching Vancouver. The Cowlitz Tribe later took sole management of the casino in 2023.

The casino was named 'Ilani' in June 2016, using the Cowlitz word for 'sing'. Members of the Cowlitz tribe broke ground on the casino on February 14, 2016, along with local politicians and representatives from the Mohegan Tribe. In December 2015, the Cowlitz Tribe announced that it had entered into a financing agreement with the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, owners of the Mohegan Sun mega-casino, to fund the project's $510 million cost. The reservation was formally established in March 2015, allowing for construction to begin after the resolution of an ongoing lawsuit in federal courts. In 2013, the Cowlitz Tribe were granted the rights to establish a 152-acre (62 ha) reservation near La Center along Interstate 5, which would be home to a casino pending local approval.

The Cowlitz Tribe were granted a gambling license by the National Indian Gaming Commission in 2005.

In the 2000s, the newly recognized Cowlitz Tribe began planning for a casino and hotel complex on trust lands near La Center to bring in revenue. federal government on February 14, 2000, consisting of 3,700 members but lacking an Indian reservation. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe was formally recognized by the U.S. The casino opened on April 24, 2017, after a lengthy legal battle over the tribe's right to establish a reservation on which to build the casino. The ilani Casino Resort ( / eɪ ˈ l æ n eɪ/ ay- LAN-ay) is a casino operated by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and located near La Center, Washington.

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