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Gaming and Leisure Properties enters agreement to potentially acquire Georgia casino site
GLPI has the option to take ownership of a former mall site in Macon to accommodate gaming if Georgia allows anytime within the next 10 years.
Georgia's legislature has weighed legalizing gaming in each of the past six years, and the 2026 session could extend the streak, making the state interesting to industry corporations eager to expand, like Gaming and Leisure Properties. In that interest, Gaming and Leisure Properties has established a memorandum of understanding with the Macon-Bibb County government regarding a former JCPenney store in Macon that could serve as a future casino site.
Vacant store could become Georgia casino with gaming expansion
According to Lizz Fabian of Macon Newsroom, Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) has entered a 10-year agreement with the Macon-Bibb County's Urban Development Authority that gives GLPI exclusive rights to acquire the former JCPenney store inside the Macon Mall. The agreement has a value of $20 million.
The agreement consists of two five-year terms. In the first five years, GLPI will have the option to spend up to $2.5 million to demolish the store and make improvements to the site. Should casino gaming still be illegal in Georgia at the end of that five-year period, GLPI has committed to paying an additional $500,000 to extend its exclusive acquisition rights for the second five-year term.
GLPI, which is a subsidiary of Penn Entertainment, owns more than 60 gaming properties across the United States. However, GLPI is not involved in the operation of the facilities or any associated top online casino sites.
Rather, GLPI acts as the landlord for the sites, meaning that it is in the real estate business, not the gaming industry. That will continue to be its only interest in Georgia unless the legislature and the state's voters can collaborate on expansion over the next decade.
State of gaming in Georgia and the mood around expansion
The only popular form of gaming that is legal in Georgia is the state lottery, although there is limited licensed charitable gaming there as well. Various gaming initiatives in Atlanta have failed to reach voters since 2020.
In 2025, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill to study the impact of gaming expansion, and the Georgia Senate considered multiple proposals. However, any expansion will ultimately have to be approved by a public referendum.
The Georgia Constitution gives the power to determine which forms of gaming are legal exclusively to the state's registered voters. Thus, any gaming expansion measure has to come in the form of an amendment to that charter.
Such amendments must begin in the state legislature and get supermajority (â…”) approval in both chambers before passing a simple majority (50% plus one) in a voter referendum. Disagreements in the state legislature have focused on which forms of gaming to include in the possible amendment and how to utilize tax revenues from expanded gaming.
While most of the proposals have included brick-and-mortar casinos, none to date have touched upon bringing any online PayPal casinos to Georgia. Georgians probably will not be able to access the Golden Nugget Casino promo code like residents of Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia can.
Should land-based gaming be part of any expansion over the next decade, GLPI would be well positioned to bring a casino to Macon. Whether that comes to fruition is completely up to the state legislature right now.
