Drummond Woodsum advises Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. in $390 million construction financing for Caesars Republic Sonoma County

January 15, 2026

Drummond Woodsum served as lead counsel to Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLPI) in connection with GLPI’s $225 million commitment to serve as the lead real estate financing partner for a new, integrated resort.

Caesars Republic Sonoma County, which will be developed on the site of the current River Rock Casino before its 2027 opening, is owned by the River Rock Entertainment Authority (“RREA”), a wholly-owned instrumentality of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians (“Dry Creek”), and located on the Dry Creek Rancheria in Geyserville, California. GLPI’s commitment is part of a $390 million debt financing for RREA arranged by Citizens Capital Markets & Advisory.

GLPI will initially act as a lender to the project, with a delayed draw term loan of $180 million, priced at a fixed rate of 12.50%, and a term loan B of $45 million, with a current yield to maturity of 13.95%. Upon, or prior to, maturity of the 6-year term loans, Dry Creek will lease the property to an affiliate of GLPI for a 45-year term for an amount no less than $112.5 million, and GLPI will sublease the property back to an affiliate of Dry Creek. Annual rent on the sublease will be based on a cap rate of 9.75%.

This transaction expands on the financing model that GLPI pioneered in its 2024 transaction with the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, which introduced a long-term financing option that had not previously been available in Indian Country. Long-term financings with funds provided by real estate investment trusts have been a central part of commercial entertainment and gaming resort facility financings, but GLPI’s recent deals represent the first long-term financing structures available to tribal nations and their gaming facilities.  In recognition of the significance of this new source of capital, GLPI’s financing transaction for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians won the 2024 Native American Finance Association Business Impact Deal of the Year Award.

The Drummond Woodsum team advising GLPI was led by Rob Gips and Andrew Sweeney. Brittany Michaud advised on commercial law matters.  Stacey Caulk advised on environmental law matters.