When MGM Resorts International sold MGM National Harbor to its affiliated real estate investment trust, it paid off in a big way — to Prince George’s County.
The transaction between MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) and MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) brought with it a check for $23.2 million in deed transfer and recordation taxes, the largest single payment in the county’s history, Thomas Himler, a top county economic development and finance official, tells me.
That was bound to happen, as Prince George’s has never before seen a real estate deal worth so much: nearly $1.2 billion.
The REIT acquired the long-term leasehold interest and the physical resort itself for $462.5 million in cash, the assumption of roughly $425 million in debt related to the National Harbor facility’s construction, and $300 million in MGM Growth Properties operating partnership units.