Gaming and Leisure Properties to acquire Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia site and fund construction

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. announced on Monday that it will acquire the real estate of the under-construction Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia in Petersburg, and provide financing for its development, in a transaction valued at $467 million.

Under the agreement, the Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust (REIT) will purchase the property for $27 million and provide $440 million in “hard cost funding” at a capitalization rate of 8%.

The project, with a total estimated cost of $600 million, is being developed by The Cordish Companies in partnership with Bruce Smith Enterprise. GLPI stated that the investment is expected to be accretive to its operating results.

The Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia is being built just off Interstate 95, about 25 miles south of Richmond. The development will span a 98-acre site and anchor a broader $1.4 billion master plan that includes additional hotels, retail, dining, entertainment, and residential facilities.

According to GLPI, the casino resort will feature an 80,000-square-foot gaming floor, 70,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, 200 hotel rooms, and 10 restaurants. The permanent facility is scheduled to open in 2027.

The project strengthens the existing relationship between GLPI and The Cordish Companies, marking the fourth Cordish-operated casino where the real estate is owned by GLPI. The other properties in the partnership are located in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Cordish also operates a gaming venue in Bossier City, Louisiana.

GLPI plans to fund the $27 million acquisition in the first quarter of 2026, while the $440 million in construction financing is expected to be drawn between the second quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2028.

“During the construction phase, Cordish will pay rent on the GLPI funding, as drawn. After the first anniversary of the opening of the permanent casino project, rent will escalate at a rate of 1.75% per annum,” the company said in a statement.

The deal follows a series of recent transactions by the REIT. Earlier this month, GLPI announced a $183.75 million purchase of the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino in southern New Mexico. In September, the company reached a $735 million sale-leaseback agreement with Bally’s Corporation involving the Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort in Rhode Island, though that deal is currently being held by Bally’s creditors.