GLPI to take a partial role in funding Bally’s Las Vegas resort

Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. (GLPI) plans a limited role in Bally’s Las Vegas project, indicating it won't be footing the full bill and instead opting to invest only in selected components of the proposed 26-acre development.

GLPI, which owns the 35-acre site where the Tropicana Las Vegas once stood, said during its quarterly earnings call on Friday that it does not intend to finance the entire project.

The Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust instead indicated interest in participating in profit-generating segments of Bally’s planned resort complex.

“It is unlikely that we will finance the entire project, but there are elements of that, profit-making elements, that I think we could participate in,” said GLPI Chairman and CEO Peter Carlino.

Bally’s Corp. holds the gaming license and development rights for the site. The company plans to use 26 acres for a mixed-use casino and resort that will feature 3,000 hotel rooms, a 2,500-seat theater, and 500,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment space.

GLPI retains ownership of the land under a 50-year ground lease signed in 2022. Bally’s pays an initial annual rent of $10.5 million, subject to escalations. The lease was part of Bally’s $148 million cash acquisition that same year for the Tropicana’s operations from GLPI and its partner.

The Las Vegas arrangement differs from GLPI’s support of Bally’s Chicago casino-resort, where the real estate firm agreed to provide up to $2.07 billion, including $940 million for construction costs. Under that agreement, Bally’s leases the land and certain real estate interests back from GLPI at an initial annual rent of about $20 million.

Carlino suggested that any potential participation in the Las Vegas site would be confined to specific areas that present favorable returns.

“We are very pleased with what they have discovered or what they have laid out, and we may or may not participate as opportunities arise,” he said. “Stay tuned in Las Vegas as well. It is in a very good place at the moment.”

The Tropicana Las Vegas, one of the oldest properties on the Strip, closed on April 2, 2024, and was demolished on Oct. 9, 2024. The site is also slated to include a $2 billion, 33,000-seat Major League Baseball stadium that will serve as the new home of the Oakland Athletics when the team relocates in 2028.

With GLPI holding the land and Bally’s controlling development rights, the project continues to advance in phases as the companies determine investment priorities for the mixed-use casino and entertainment complex.