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Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today it has completed the purchase of 123 acres at the site of the former General Motors/Delphi Automotive plant located on the west side of Columbus on Georgesville Road near the intersection of West Broad Street. The brownfield site is the alternate location for the development of the Company's planned development of the Hollywood Casino Columbus which is now budgeted at approximately $400 million.
Voters approved casinos in Ohio's four largest cities in November 2009. Based on discussions with Columbus government, civic, business and neighborhood leaders, Penn National agreed to seek a state constitutional amendment to relocate the authorized Columbus casino to the former Delphi Automotive plant, pending voter approval on the May 4 statewide ballot.
"Closing on this property reflects our ongoing commitment to work closely with Central Ohio's business and community leaders on this relocation effort, which could, pending voter approval, result in hundreds of millions of private investment dollars for the West Side of Columbus, an area in need of an economic catalyst," said Eric Schippers, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, of Penn National. "Our commitment is further reflected in the demolition work and environmental remediation efforts that have already been put in motion at this brownfield site. If the voters of Ohio approve the casino relocation in May, we will quickly move to the next steps in the development of this casino, which will create thousands of construction and new full-time permanent jobs and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues for all of Ohio's 88 counties and school districts throughout the state."
Penn National previously completed the purchase of approximately 24 acres in Columbus' Arena District - the site authorized in the November 2009 Constitutional amendment -- which will be put up for sale if the May ballot effort is successful.
Hollywood Casino Columbus, which is expected to open in the second half of 2012, will be a 180,000 square foot casino with up to 4,000 slot machines at opening, up to 100 table games and 25 poker tables, a 4,000 space parking garage, plus food and beverage outlets and entertainment lounge.
About Penn National Gaming
Penn National Gaming owns and operates gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company presently operates nineteen facilities in fifteen jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. In aggregate, Penn National's operated facilities feature over 26,300 gaming machines, approximately 400 table games, over 2,000 hotel rooms and over 959,000 square feet of gaming floor space.
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