Churchill Downs Incorporated announced that it has signed an agreement to sell 115.7 acres of land near Calder Casino in Miami Gardens, Fla., for $291 million or approximately $2.5 million per acre. CDI has agreed to sell the land to Link Logistics, one of the premier owners of logistics real estate assets, established in 2019 by Blackstone.
The closing of the sale of the property is subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions. The Company anticipates closing the sale of the property in the first half of 2022. CDI is planning to use certain proceeds of the sale to purchase or invest in replacement property that qualifies as an Internal Revenue Code §1031 transaction.
Following the closing of this transaction, CDI will retain ownership of approximately 54 acres of the current 170-acre parcel of land on which the Company's wholly-owned Calder Casino sits. The Company may sell 15-20 acres of land along NW 27th Ave. in the Miami Gardens area in the future for retail development.
Beginning in 2014, Churchill Downs Inc. leased the Calder track and a portion of the stable area to Gulfstream Park, which operated a race meet there under the name Gulfstream Park West. The arrangement allowed Churchill Downs Inc. to continue operations of the Calder Casino, with a portion of the gaming revenue earmarked for purses. Races were run without a functioning grandstand and there was virtually no on-track attendance.
Churchill Downs Inc. acquired a dormant jai alai permit in 2019 and secured a favorable ruling from an administrative law judge to transfer the Calder Casino to that permit from Thoroughbred racing. That doomed racing at Calder once the lease expired with Gulfstream Park. The final race was run at Calder in November 2020.
The post Majority Of Former Calder Race Course Acreage To Be Sold; Churchill Keeping Casino appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
