Gaming & Leisure Properties CEO pleased with the place firm is regardless of questions on Bally’s Chicago — CDC Gaming

During Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc.’s second quarter investor’s name, a query was requested about why the main target was typically on what may go flawed with among the firm’s tasks.

Chairman and CEO Peter Carlino responded shortly, noting he was not often requested what was going proper.

“In fairness, Chicago (the casino project with Bally’s) raises some questions. I think Bally’s credit, not unfairly, raises some questions,” Carlino stated. “We’re delicate to that.

“But as I think we said earlier, we look at these projects on a unit-by-unit basis, and we’re satisfied that if everything develops as we plan, that things will be fine. We’re happy with kind of where we find ourselves.”

Gaming & Leisure Properties posted income of $394.4 million in Q2 2025, in comparison with $380.6 million in the identical quarter of 2024, a 3.8% improve. Adjusted funds from operations had been $276.1 million, a 4.4% improve in comparison with the identical interval in 2024, and Adjusted EBITA was up 6.2% to $361.5 million.

The Chicago challenge has been beset by delays. Initially scheduled for a September 2026 opening, Bally’s has said the on line casino will now open someday in 2027. Carlino famous that different tasks with Bally’s, together with the Queen Baton Rouge and the Belle of Baton Rouge, are profitable.

He has no doubts Chicago will observe in these challenge’s footsteps, with GLPI’s head of building, Jim Baum, onsite each week and with a group of GLPI workers monitoring prices, payments and invoices.

“The project’s moving along pretty quickly,” Carlino stated. “Over 100 people are working that site every day right now. We feel pretty good about that. So, at the moment, things are looking good.”

Carlino added that GLPI plans to provide a quarterly publication, together with images, to maintain buyers apprised about Chicago’s progress.

President and chief working officer Brandon Moore admitted there was confusion concerning the phrases of Chicago’s financial improvement settlement, however there have been no modifications to it.

“We’ve finally agreed to certain terms related to that project, and that was the filing of the document,” Moore stated. “There was no change, that wasn’t an amendment. And there was some confusion around the cap rate on the lease property. That was originally 8%, it’s still 8%, the improvements are at 8 1/2 percent cap rate. But there were no changes in the economics in that transaction, either.”

GLPI additionally has a possible dedication via Bally’s to assist fund casinos in New York. GLPI Chief Development Officer Steven Ladany stated he’s undecided if that challenge has the power to go ahead.

“I feel pretty comfortable saying we would probably look at any of the projects in New York, and we’ll be happy to engage in those discussions,” Ladany stated. I feel our degree of dedication – I’ll use that phrase with an asterisk round it – varies primarily based on each challenge. We’re very happy to have interaction in discussions, have detailed backwards and forwards, and attempt to assist folks discover options, however I feel the place the {dollars} come from, in the end, if these tasks had been to be awarded, they might or could not come from us.”

GLPI is also concerned within the new baseball stadium that can finally be the house of MLB’s Athletics in Las Vegas. The firm has dedicated $175 million to the positioning, $50 million that has been spent on demolition.

The remaining $125 million, Moore stated, is topic to negotiation “because we’d like to own something for the $125 million.”

“There are a lot of different opportunities, and I think as we see the full financing of the site and the build out of the site, and the amenities and the third-party vendors that are coming in, there is an opportunity for us to invest more into that site,” Williams stated. “Whether or not we capitalize on that opportunity will depend on what the opportunity is, how the financing of that property shapes up. At that time, we’ll figure out whether or not investment in that property by us makes sense for us and for Ballys. Quite frankly, you know that Ballys needs to decide how they want to fund and finance that site, and if they don’t need any more capital from us, that’s fine, too.”