Deutsche Bank provides USD 147 M to former Sands Casino Bethlehem land owner

Deutsche Bank has provided $146.6 million in fixed-rate financing to the fee owner under the Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, according to sources cited by Commercial Observer. 

Newmark Knight Frank’s Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani and Chris Kramer negotiated the debt. NKF officials declined to confirm or comment on the lender’s identity, the publication reports.

The property, previously known as Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, is a gaming, hotel, retail and dining complex, which sits on the site of the historic Bethlehem Steel Works — formerly a steel production and shipbuilding hub.

Wind Creek Hospitality, the business arm of the Alabama-based Poarch Bank of Creek Indians, received regulatory approval to purchase the complex from Las Vegas Sands in a $1.4-billion deal in May, the largest acquisition to date for the gaming company. At the time of the sale, a partner of Sands in the deal, an unnamed private investor who sources declined to name, swapped into fee ownership of 125 acres under the property and created a ground lease on the property. 

“The Wind Creek Casino is ideally situated in Bethlehem, less than a two-hour drive from Manhattan and Philadelphia,” Stolly said. “The gaming industry continues to expand in Pennsylvania and the Wind Creek Casino is in an excellent position to capitalize on the growth going forward.”

The asset, which Wind Creek is reportedly investing an additional $190 million into, includes 146,000 square feet of gaming space, a 282-room hotel, a 150,000-square-foot retail center, a 50,000-square-foot event center and an arts and cultural center. 

“The fee position benefits from long-term certainty of cash flows given the strong casino on the land and the favorable ground lease structure,” Roeschlaub added in prepared remarks.