James Stewart, CEO of MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
In September, MGM Growth partnered with MGM Resorts on the sale of its Hard Rock Rocksino asset in Ohio. Stewart said the company was looking for an operator with financial strength, and “we thought [MGM Resorts] would be the best stewards of our operations for the rest of the lease.”
Meanwhile, Stewart described operating fundamentals across the REIT’s core markets as “very, very strong.” He noted that Las Vegas offers customers a value proposition that is the “best in the world.” Furthermore, many of MGM Growth’s properties in regional markets had record third quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). “The operating fundamentals are fantastic,” he said.
Stewart also said that many of the opportunities that MGM Growth is looking at right now are off the Las Vegas strip. He noted that in time, the Las Vegas strip component of overall revenue is likely to go down.