Bally’s Corporation has agreed a deal worth “tens of millions of dollars” to obtain the 20-year lease for the Trump Golf Links Ferry Point from the Trump Organization, according to the New York Post.
The Post reported that Parks Department and Comptroller Brad Lander signed off on the deal last week, meaning that the Trump Links brand will be known as “Bally’s Links”.
It comes as Bally’s continues its bid to obtain one of three available licenses to operate a casino in downstate New York, which is set to be on the 17-acre golf course surrounding the site that the operator is also aiming to purchase.
As part of the deal, the Trump Links sign outside the course will be removed in favor of the new Bally’s brand, while having the lease will support the operators’ continued application with the New York Gaming Facility Location Board.
The Board recently broke its half-year silence by publicly answering over 600 questions that prospective licensees had asked in February, and will now give those operators a few more weeks until the next round commences.
Covering 192 acres, the course sits on land that the Trump Organization leases from New York City. According to a report from the New York Times, Bally’s reached an agreement with the organization last December to control 17 of the 192 acres for its new casino project estimated to cost $2.5bn.
George Papanier, President of Bally’s, recently updated investors on the New York process and likened it to the fortunes of its Chicago bid, which was successful. The temporary Chicago casino opened over the weekend.
He said: “The process is moving relatively quickly and we could put together a great bid, especially just coming off of the Chicago bid. We’re looking currently at a two-site approach, which worked well for us in Chicago.
“So it’s something that we may be duplicating in this process. But we’re not going to get into any specific strategy at this point in time, but obviously, we see the potential of the market.”
