Published Tuesday, April 13, 2021 | 7:20 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, April 13, 2021 | 4:38 p.m.
The Tropicana Las Vegas, a landmark on the world famous Strip, is changing hands.
Bally's Corp. today announced that it has agreed to purchase the Tropicana from Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. in a transaction estimated to be valued at approximately $308 million, according to a news release issued by Bally's.
The purchase price for the Tropicana property's nonland assets is $150 million. In addition, Bally's has agreed to lease the land underlying the Tropicana property from GLPI for an initial term of 50 years at annual rent of $10.5 million, subject to increase over time.
Bally's and GLPI will also will enter into a sale-and-leaseback transaction relating to Bally's Black Hawk, Colo., and Rock Island, Ill., casino properties for a cash purchase price of $150 million payable by GLPI. The lease will have initial annual fixed rent of $12 million, subject to increase over time.
Bally's Corp. does not own Bally’s Las Vegas on the Strip. That 2,800-room property at Flamingo Road is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Inc.
"Landing a preeminent spot on the Las Vegas Strip is a key step for us," said George Papanier, president and CEO of Bally's Corp. "The Strip is visited by over 40 million players and guests per year, which we believe will significantly enhance Bally's customer base and player database, as well as unlock marketing opportunities to leverage the iconic Bally's brand. This expansion will also support the growth and development of our online and interactive business. We look forward to exploring significant redevelopment of the property, which we believe will enhance its financial profile."
The sale, subject to regulatory oversight, is expected to close in 2022.
The Tropicana Las Vegas opened in April 1957. It has two towers of 22 and 21 stories on a 35-acre (14-hectare) parcel at a Las Vegas Boulevard intersection with a major thoroughfare named for it. The hotel has been operated in recent years as a DoubleTree by Hilton.
When it opened with three stories and 300 rooms in 1957 at a cost of $15 million, it was described as the most expensive hotel-casino built in Las Vegas and dubbed the “Tiffany of the Strip.”
The Flamingo had been open for a decade, the Sahara for almost 15 years. The high-rise Stardust opened the following year, costing $8.5 million.
“It was seen as a cut above other places and a little more intimate,” said David Schwartz, a gambling historian and former director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “It’s one of the most storied properties still open today.”
Historian Michael Green said organized crime often had a hand in Tropicana operations, but observed that today it is corporate-owned.
“The Trop has a checkered history and a checkered past. But it also had a significant non-mob phase," Green said.
It was home for nearly 50 years to the “Les Folies Bergere” — a glittery and feathery topless revue featuring quintessential Vegas showgirls until it closed in 2009.
Sammy Davis Jr. played at the Tropicana, Schwartz said. Green noted Eddie Fischer was the opening-night headliner and said lion-and tiger-taming illusionists Siegfried & Roy got their Las Vegas start at the venue before ending up at The Mirage.
Today, the site at the south end of the Strip is surrounded by megaresorts: the MGM Grand, Excalibur, New York-New York, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. It has traded hands in recent decades, seen as a site with potential for growth.
“With the development around it, it has always been seen as a place you could do something bigger,” Schwartz said.
The property was purchased by Penn National Gaming in 2015 for $360 million, and Penn last year sold the land occupied by the Tropicana to its spin-off company, Gaming and Leisure Properties, for $337.5 million in rent credits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
