State College Casino Developer Gifts Penn State $10M for Football Stadium Renovation
Posted on: September 6, 2024, 08:50h.
Last updated on: September 6, 2024, 09:51h.
The developer behind a planned casino in State College, Pa., just miles from the Pennsylvania State University campus, has gifted the school $10 million for its football stadium renovation project.
Ira Lubert won the rights to a Category 4 casino license on Sept. 2, 2020, when he was the high bidder during an auction round conducted by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). Lubert submitted a bid of $10,000,101 that narrowly edged Baltimore-based Cordish Companies.
This week, Lubert, a 1973 Penn State graduate whose real estate firm, Lubert-Adler, has a deep portfolio in office, industrial, residential, retail, and hospitality across the nation, announced a $10 million gift to the Beaver Stadium Revitalization. The donation will result in the Lubert Family Welcome Center, a new “landmark space” at one of the stadium’s entrances. The renovation project is to be completed in 2027.
Coming to Penn State set me on a path that has led to professional success and personal fulfillment, and I am honored that the Lubert Family Welcome Center will offer a fresh, exciting first impression for future Penn Staters as they discover all that the university offers,” Lubert said.
The Penn State Board of Trustees approved a $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium in May. While most of the investment will be financed and no tuition money will be used, private donors continue to help reduce the amount of interest the school will pay by lessening the principal. With Lubert’s contribution, the renovation has now received $55 million in donations.
Nearby Casino Saga
The renovation of Beaver Stadium has faced significant scrutiny as the $700 million project comes as the school continues to try and reduce its costs by offering some employees buyout packages. Another high-profile controversy in Centre County is Lubert’s plan to open a casino.
After winning the September 2020 auction, Lubert announced a partnership with Bally’s Corp. to invest $123 million to renovate the former Macy’s department store at the Nittany Mall into a so-called mini-casino with up to 750 slot machines and an initial allotment of 30 live dealer table games, plus a sportsbook. The mall is less than five miles from the PSU Main Campus and Beaver Stadium.
Cordish raised allegations in litigation that Lubert violated bidding protocols by orchestrating an investment group that helped him fund the $10 million bid. Lubert’s investors, who were detailed later, were not eligible to bid since they didn’t hold “an ownership interest in a slot machine license” as Lubert did with his 3% stake in Rivers Casino Pittsburgh.
Cordish argued it should have been the only qualified bid that September, but the case, which made its way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, came down in Lubert’s favor. The state’s highest court in July upheld lower courts’ rulings in deciding that Lubert, while he might have organized an investment group to build the casino, had retained 100% control of SC Gaming OpCo, the entity he bid as, during the auction and subsequent remission of the $10 million fee.
PSU Steers Clear of Casino Controversy
After years of legal delays, Bally’s, which will operate the State College casino, told investors during its second-quarter earnings call that construction at the Nittany Mall is targeted for the first half of 2025.
Marcus Glover, the chief financial officer of Bally’s, said the company and Lubert’s team are “going through the process and obtaining the appropriate approvals.”
In July, Bally’s accepted a takeover from Soo Kim’s Standard General hedge fund. Bally’s has recently faced several credit downgrades, concerns about its financial outlook, and worries that the company could be overleveraged. ?
Many in the State College community remain opposed to the casino. Despite widespread opposition and thousands of local residents expressing disdain for a casino coming so close to where roughly 50,000 students study, the Penn State Board of Trustees refrained from taking a public position on the project. Since the College Township Council failed to opt out of being considered for a Cat. 4 casino, there is seemingly little recourse to block the Bally’s Pennsylvania casino.
Kim has remained quiet about what Bally’s future might look like once he takes full control. Under Standard General, Bally’s is expected to direct much of its focus on its $2 billion Bally’s Chicago undertaking, and possibly, a new resort in Las Vegas. That could prompt the company to fold on smaller regional operations like the one coming to State College. ?
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Last Comments ( 118 )
We are adamantly opposed to this casino project for reasons too numerous to mention.
WE ARE not in favor of a casino in State College! This town is not called State Casino, and we like it that way.
It deeply concerns me that a casino is being built near Penn State University, a place that should stand for the values of safety, education, and upward mobility. Casinos can often introduce social problems like gambling addiction and financial strain, which contradict the mission of a university to foster personal and professional growth. More troubling is the fact that the university has remained silent on this issue, especially when the developer of the casino has recently donated $10 million to the football stadium renovation. This raises serious questions about the impartiality of university leadership. Are they prioritizing the financial interests tied to the donation over the well-being of their students and community? It is crucial for the university to address these concerns transparently to maintain trust and uphold its values.
Everyone that I speak to about the casino near State College is against it. We have an alcohol abuse problem already. Why would any reasonable resident want to bring another addictive and destructive activity here? I'm very disappointed that Penn State took the bribe. I'm also deeply disappointed in the PA Gaming Control Board to succumb to money and power. Why don't the local residents have more of a say?
The gambling addiction rate for young people is three times that of adults. Slot machines have been shown to get more than 70% of their money from addicts. Casinos suck money out of their local economies. A casino near Penn State remains a dumb idea.
We still don't want a casino at Penn State!
Residents of State College do not want a casino In our town and near the students at Penn State It is disappointing that the University not taken a stand against the casino. The huge contribution by Ira Lupert to the Beaver Stadium expansion only makes it more obvious where the Unversity’s loyalties lie.
Stoppredatorygambling.org
It seems like blood money from an act that will soon (2025) be committed.
Overall a big disappointment in the university for not having the scruples to resist money no matter the cost. A nice contribution for a nice no comment seems to be the situation over time. If only they cared about the students who will be caught up in gambling addiction due to a casino's ease of access. I'm in College Township and I am also disappointed in that leadership that opened the door in the first place. What's important ...matters over money to be made.
He sure is buying PSU’s approval of his destructive casino just a few miles from campus.
The Penn State community does not want a casino here. It is not a benefit to the community and it will hurt students and the local economy.
State College does not want or need a casino. It will bring no benefit to our community and it will certainly cause harm.
Ira Lubert and Bally's Corporation have already forgotten the most important detail. The residents of the bucolic college town of State College do not want a casino just four miles away from the main campus of Penn State University. Continually strong community casino opposition in State College has been in place since August 2021 and it remains that way today. See for yourself at the SayNoCasino website. Lubert's dream of a successful casino in Happy Valley will crumble when the casino fails soon after opening. Penn State college students now enthusiastically bet on sports with their phones. They are not about to spend their evenings in front of a slot machine at a Bally's casino in a former Macy's department store in the dying Nittany Mall. Their Penn State student peer groups would roll their eyes immediately upon hearing of a weekend evening wasted in front of a slot machine. Lubert's lucrative casino plan will fizzle when the Nittany Casino folds soon after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Mr. Lubert is undoubtedly very appreciative for Penn State's refusal to oppose the development of his casino at the Nittany Mall, just as Penn State is very appreciative for Mr. Lubert's large donation to the University's stadium renovation project.