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 )
Having a casino in this town is such a bad idea for so many reasons. One of the most obvious should be to the PSU Board of Trustees, who are supposed to act in the best interests of who they represent. How exactly is having a casino in PSU's back yard in the best interest of the University and their students? How could they not at least try to weigh in and express that having a casino does nothing but provide a negative distraction to the PSU student body. Gambling is already too prevalent in our society and putting a casino here is absolutely unnecessary.
We don not want a casino. The potential to hurt people's lives far exceeds the ability to help them. Let's take care.
This story just gets more and more sordid. The university should be educating and protecting its students, not operating hand in glove with someone out to make money in a way that is detrimental to the local residents and the temporary residents, the Penn State students. The last election cycle for the PSU board of trustees, only two candidates voiced their opposition to the casino, and of those two, only one made it onto the board. Look at the makeup of the board, educate yourself, and see who you believe truly has the best interests of the students in mind.
Guess the university is for sake. 10 m. to keep quiet about the casino which we the people do not want
After Old Main's years-long silence concerning the Nittany Mall casino project, the trumpeting by the administration of Mr. Lubert's recent $10 million gift for the Beaver stadium renovation project speaks volumes and says it all. As has been abundantly clear for some time, Penn State values money over the well-being of their students and the local community, come what may and ethics be damned. Absolutely disgusting, but par for the course. A casino, with all its attendant ills, does not belong in healthy Happy Valley.
Absolutely the worst idea to come down the pike for College Township, the University, and those of us who love this area and are retired from PSU! There is nothing good that can come of it. If you think so, just name one! No, not money for those of us who live here....are you kidding? And what about all the downsides? A casino is to make money and take money. That's it. Bad, bad idea and we need to stop it in its tracks!
This casino is a huge mistake and will lead to the destruction of many lives. The vast majority of Centre County citizens are opposed to living with it -- and with the inevitable human desperation it will generate. Who will pay for the human destruction? Certainly NOT those who will be making the money off us.
I have lived in College Township, for decades, a mile from the Nittany Mall future casino location. I am a Penn State alumni and employee. I do not want legalized gambling problems in my community or where I work. I hope Penn State leaders will do something about this to protect their students from the adverse consequences of gambling. I ask the PSU Board of Trustees to be transparent and to make a statement about the importance of Penn State students avoiding gambling.
We shouldn't have a casino in State College. State College has always been a relatively safe town and a great place for education. The introduction of a casino would threaten the safety of our town and expose our students to gambling, drinking, and potential violence. Our education will suffer and our crime rates will increase. We are opposed to the construction of a casino for every reason possible.
If Hugh Hefner's organization, or Phillip Morris, or Juul, or Seagrams, or Budweiser offered to fund a Welcome Center, a gateway for all new students and their families, visibly situated as the University-endorsed, first impressions, "face" of Penn State, would folks be okay with that? Porn, smoking, vaping, and drinking are all legal activities in the U.S., as is casino gambling. But like gambling, all of those have been shown to have high potential for negative, even destructive, outcomes for users, particularly those of impressionable ages. What's next? The Hugh Hefner dormitory for women? The Philip Morris/Juul athletic and recreation center? The Seagrams/Budweiser center for responsible drivers' education? What in the world are they thinking?
Now, now, let's not complain about a casino in proximity to 50,000 students. Look on the positive side. Students can now reduce their loan obligations with their gambling winnings. The other positive effect is the revenue CATA will derive by busing students to the casino. Surely a win- win, right? What could go wrong? The trustees and University President are wise to withhold judgment when such benefits should be obvious to the larger community.
It's disappointing that a wealthy alumn will do a quid pro quo of $10 million for a stadium in order to get his casino playhouse. This is not good long-term thinking, Penn State. You are selling the soul of Penn State to the devil called Gambling. In the basic definition of gambling, the MAJORITY ALWAYS LOSE!!!
The person who wrote "may no act of ours bring shame" (including those acts of omission) hit the nail on the head. Shame on you, President Bendapudi and your spineless trustees, for allowing Lubert's donation to muzzle you and the institution we love.
Please, Please, Please! No gambling casino in State College. I pray God will intervene!
I oppose a casino in easy reach of 50,000 college students.