Gaming and Leisure Properties has acquired the land and real estate assets of Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia and Live! Casino Pittsburgh from The Cordish Companies for $674m.
As part of the closing deal, the two signed a master lease agreement, which will allow Cordish to maintain management, control and ownership of Live! Philadelpha and Live! Pittsburgh. The agreement’s initial term is for 39 years, with an annual cash rent amount of $50m.
Live! Philadelphia has more than 510,000 square feet of gaming, hotel, dining and entertainment space available. The location is comprised of a 208-room hotel, and its casino contains more than 2,100 slot machines, 116 live action table games, a 29-table poker room, 15 electronic table games, as well as a FanDuel sportsbook and lounge.
Live! Pittsburgh has a FanDuel sportsbook, 750 slots and close to 30 live-action table games in its 100,000 square-foot property.
Peter Carlino, Chairman and CEO of Gaming and Leisure Properties, said: “We are delighted to add the Live! Pennsylvania properties to our portfolio and expand our presence in the attractive Pennsylvania market with truly world-class properties. The Cordish Companies is world renowned for creating large-scale experiential real estate projects, casinos, hospitality and entertainment districts and we believe their Live! brand exemplifies their track record of development and operating success.
Carlino also spoke about the advantages of the lease agreement and about upcoming deals happening later this year.
“Further, our PA Live! Master Lease with Cordish has strong rent coverage and is part of an accretive overall transaction that positions Gaming and Leisure Properties to continue to build value for shareholders through our industry-leading, high quality tenant roster,” he said.
“We are excited to welcome the Live! Pennsylvania properties to the GLPI family and we look forward to working with their team to support the long-term success of the properties. In addition, our announced transactions with Bally’s Corporation for properties located in Rock Island, Illinois and Black Hawk, Colorado are now expected to close in the first half of 2022, while the transactions for Tropicana Las Vegas are expected to close by year end.”
