Gaming entrepreneur power behind Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino sale

A big Pennsylvania on line casino actual property firm lately grabbed headlines with its announcement of plans to purchase Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino’s actual property property for nearly $184 million.

But Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., or GLPI, received’t personal and handle Sunland Park’s gaming and racing operations.

That shall be Jon Grant Lincoln, who goes by Grant Lincoln, a longtime gaming entrepreneur.

Two New Mexico regulatory businesses lately permitted transferring Sunland Park’s gaming and horse racing licenses to Lincoln and his firm, Strategic Gaming Management. The 65-year-old facility is positioned in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on the west fringe of El Paso.

Sunland Park deal to change into ultimate Oct. 15

Lincoln is shopping for Sunland Park from the Fulton household, house owners for 25 years, then promoting its actual property property to GLPI, and leasing the true property from GLPI, in a deal scheduled to change into ultimate Oct. 15, Lincoln mentioned in a cellphone interview.

How a lot Lincoln is paying for the gaming machines, emblems, and different non-real property property shall be revealed Oct. 15, he mentioned. Lincoln’s firm, Strategic Gaming Management, can pay hire to GLPI for utilizing the buildings and different actual property of $15 million within the first yr, rising 2% per yr in subsequent years.

GLPI won’t be concerned in day-to-day operations, nevertheless it probably shall be concerned in financing long-term enchancment tasks, Lincoln mentioned. It shall be as much as Lincoln’s firm on what enhancements or additions could also be performed on the facility, he and a GLPI official mentioned.

GLPI executives have mentioned in a information launch that they see growth alternatives on a number of the facility’s extra acreage.

“This type of (buy/lease back) transaction allows Strategic to finance the Sunland Park acquisition at a lower cost than other, more traditional financing solutions,” Carlo Santarelli, GLPI’s senior vp of company technique, mentioned in an e mail.

Grant Lincoln’s gaming profession began in Montana

Lincoln, 61, lives in Missoula, Montana, however his 15-year-old firm, Strategic Gaming, is chartered in Nevada and headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, at Baldini’s Casino in Sparks, Nevada, a Reno suburb. He and a bunch of traders acquired Baldini’s in 2009.

His gaming profession started in 1997 when he began Century Gaming that operated slot and different gaming machines in bars, comfort shops, and different locations in Montana. He later acquired United Coin Machine in Las Vegas, Nevada, bringing to about 10,000 gaming machines in operation in Nevada and Montana below the Century umbrella earlier than he bought the corporate a number of years in the past, Lincoln mentioned. In 2022, after Lincoln left the corporate, Century was acquired by Chicago’s Accel Entertainment.

Lincoln owns 99% of Strategic Gaming, which additionally operates two small, gasoline station casinos in Nevada and two resort casinos in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Lincoln’s casinos make use of about 700 individuals. He plans to retain Sunland Park’s 180 workers, together with its administration staff, he mentioned.

Sunland is first horse observe in Lincoln’s portfolio

Sunland Park is the primary facility with horse racing in Lincoln’s portfolio.

“This is something we want (Sunland) to do better. We want to lean into horse racing; make it an overall draw to the facility,” Lincoln mentioned. It will proceed to have 55 racing days throughout its horse racing season, he mentioned.

 He started the potential for buying Sunland Park a few yr in the past when representatives of CBRE, a industrial actual property firm, dropped at his consideration that the power was on the market, Lincoln mentioned.

“El Paso/Las Cruces is a very nice dimension market. The space is admittedly rising, there’s lot’s of thrilling stuff occurring,” most notably the recently revealed plans for a huge artificial intelligence data center complex in nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico area, he said.

“In Reno, there’s (about) 20 casinos with less people (population) and two casinos in the Borderplex area with a way higher density of people,” he mentioned.

The different gaming facility on this space is the Speaking Rock Entertainment Center, operated by the Tigua tribe in El Paso’s Lower Valley, he famous.

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Lincoln’s Strategic Gaming, GLPI made first deal in 2024

GLPI and Strategic Gaming’s first deal was accomplished in May 2024, when the Pennsylvania firm paid $110 million for the true property property of Strategic Gaming’s Silverado Franklin Historic Hotel & Gaming Complex, which Strategic bought in 2023, and Deadwood Mountain Grand resort and on line casino, which Strategic purchased concurrently with the GLPI deal. That included GLPI paying $5 million to assist cowl the price of upgrading the Franklin Hotel.

“The incontrovertible fact that we now have a pre-existing relationship with Strategic, and that has been relationship, in addition to our expertise in New Mexico, and our (favorable) view of the Sunland Park asset particularly, all mixed to get us comfy underwriting this transaction,” GLPI’s Santarelli said.

GLPI owns the real estate at 68 gaming properties in 20 states, including the Zia Park Casino Hotel & Racetrack in Hobbs, New Mexico. The Zia gaming facilities are operated by Penn Entertainment. GLPI spun off of Penn in 2013 and is a subsidiary of Penn. GLPI owns the real estate of 34 Penn gaming operations, according to GLPI information.

Sunland is a “good facility, however we will do so much to refresh it and put a bit of sizzle in it,” Lincoln said.

Future plans will be announced after the acquisition is completed, he said.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 915-546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter, now generally known as X.