EPR Properties, a Kansas City, Missouri-based real estate investment trust currently with interests in the recreation and entertainment businesses, has named longtime gaming executive Virginia Shanks to its board of directors, sparking speculation that the company could become the fourth REIT in the casino industry.
Shanks was formerly executive vice president and chief operating officer of Pinnacle Gaming, which was sold last year to Penn National Gaming and Boyd Gaming.
Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli raised the possibility of a new gaming REIT in a note last week on VICI Properties, the REIT that owns the real estate for the major Caesars Entertainment properties.
“VICI management believes the move to bring in a talent from the gaming industry shows further interest and validation in the gaming real estate asset class,” Santarelli wrote in the research note. “Further, management believes it is more likely that EPR chooses to enter into the gaming real estate channel through regional markets, as opposed to an initial big-ticket foray into Las Vegas.”
