The Meadows gaming interests sold to Vegas firm
An eastern Pennsylvania company that is about six months from officially owning The Meadows Racetrack & Casino has reached an agreement to sell the casino’s gaming operations.
Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. of Wyomissing completed a $138 million deal Tuesday to sell The Meadows’ gaming licenses and assets to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., a Las Vegas casino operator.
GLPI, based in Wyomissing, purchased the entire North Strabane Township property – 80 acres and the entertainment complex – for $440 million in mid-December from Cannery Casino Resorts LLC. That sale and the one with Pinnacle are expected to close in the third quarter this year.
Gaming and Leisure announced in December it would be looking to sell the gaming operations to a third party. The 10-year deal with Pinnacle calls for GLPI to own the real estate and get $25.5 million in rent from the Las Vegas operator during the first year.
Both sales must be approved by Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission.
Sean Sullivan, general manager of The Meadows, declined comment on Tuesday’s transaction.
Cannery Casino Resorts, also Las Vegas based, has owned The Meadows since 2004, when it purchased the facility from Magna Entertainment Corp. There was only a track at the time, a highly regarded harness racing facility built in 1963.
CCR opened the casino in a temporary building June 11, 2007, and operated it there for about two years before the permanent site opened April 15, 2009. It is one of the largest gaming facilities on the East Coast, with 180,000 square feet, 3,170 slot machines, 74 table games and 11 poker tables.
The property includes 11 casual and fine dining restaurants, bars and lounges, a 24-lane bowling alley and a 5/8-mile racetrack with a 500-seat grandstand.
The Meadows is one of the largest employers in Washington County, with a payroll of about 1,400 people. Construction of an outdoor events center, for boxing and other attractions, has been completed.
The casino and Tanger Outlets, which opened in 2008, have been major factors in the hospitality industry boom along Racetrack Road. More than 1,000 rooms have been built over the past several years, including a 154-room Hyatt Place hotel that opened April 30 and is connected to the casino.