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 )
Great article, Devin! Every reader here should realize that these 118 comments posted since September 6 were a key factor in the Bally's Corporation decision of 9/13 to break off their Nittany Mall casino framework agreement with Ira Lubert. He never anticipated that the public outroar from his own college town of State College would be strong enough to convince Bally's to abandon their plans to build a Bally's casino just three miles down the road from the main campus of Penn State University. Ira Lubert is very disappointed with their decision and he should be. Bally's listened to us!
I guess it's not enough that way too many college student are betting on sports (even though most are younger than 21) but now a casino right in their faces. Horrible idea.
My family and I are strongly against any casino coming to State College! Mr. Lubert: please STOP this casino building plan that will create rather than tear down walls in our community! Please consider the proven detrimental impact on our youth and young impressionable college students.
We absolutely 100% do not want or NEED a casino in State College. It would be devastating to our community. Just one more thing for people to become addicted to. It’s disappointing that PSU hasn’t denounced it. Wonder why??
I don't think a casino is a wise move for State College. An institution like that isn't going to bring the kind of jobs we want to this area and we already have enough drinking/partying establishments - another one won't add anything to State College; it will be another way for rich guys to take money from people in this town and spend it in Monaco or Miami.
We do not want a casino in our State College and Centre County community. The casino will be costly for residents; economic analysis does not support the idea that the casino will generate enough jobs or revenue for the local economy to outweigh the economic costs (increased public safety costs, drunk driving risks, etc.) posed by the casino. Casinos also look sad and empty most of the time when you drive by the existing casinos all around the country. We don't need that here!
One important reason why the members of the Penn State Board of Trustees have adhered to their unspoken pledge of allegiance to casino opposition silence is that one of the Penn State Board of Trustees current members (Richard Sokolov) is a Nittany Mall casino business partner with Ira Lubert. Oh my! Nobody has mentioned that out loud yet, until just now.
Please do not bring a casino to State College. Our college students are already young and vulnerable, struggling with alcohol abuse, and so much more. Please do not add the temptation that a casino will bring! The prospect of putting money above the well-being of our students and the community is appalling!!
The idea that opening a casino in State College, is a good idea, is preposterous. There is not an “up side” to this decision for a community that carries a university the size of Penn State, on its shoulders. The casino (who always wins) will take the students money and time, while serving them endless amounts of alcohol. What could possibly go wrong? The idea that the casino would bring jobs to the area is one factor to be considered but it’s not the only factor. The limited amount of jobs it would create doesn’t take into consideration the other factors that are difficult to measure. For instance alcohol consumption, gambling addiction, driving while intoxicated, and traffic accidents in general. Has there been any type of community planning? And specialists brought in to discuss and help us anticipate what opening a casino so close to a university might cost us in those type of “other” factors ~ we have an obligation to the students to at the very least find out what we are in for. While going to the casino would of course be their own choice it seems to me that providing the actual casino is ours. Why? Again, what’s the up side for State College?
I am a mother of three young children, we frequently do our shopping in State College right near the mall, at Aldi and Sam's Club, etc. I am very fearful of the casino being put in there, I have been in areas with casinos and see the bad that seems to surround them. I fear that if this casino goes in that I would be afraid to take my children into state college by myself with that climate. I think other young mothers feel the same out of concern for their children. I ask that this be reconsidered for the good of the families in the area. We do not want the casino in Happy Valley.
I am very against having a casino in state college. Happy Valley is a place for families. Casinos encourage addiction, gambling and changes the dynamics of our town. It feels like We are catering to money and losing the values of our town . It will increases crime and other issues. I feel you have heard from the citizens but you have not heard us.
A casino will undoubtedly forever change the face of Penn State, State College and the surrounding areas, in addition to the quality, safety and impact on student life. Leave the casinos in Vegas. Me and my family, State College area residents, PSU graduates and former faculty, strongly oppose the building of the casino.
As a very proud alumnus of Penn State, I am really sad about this proposed casino so close to the University and to Mount Nittany, and about the failure of the University trustees to adequately oppose it. Our young people deserve our support to grow up strong and free, not hobbled by debt and addiction.