IGT to sell Las Vegas complex as company consolidates

Slot machine maker International Game Technology plans to sell its massive corporate Las Vegas campus as the company consolidates operations following its $6.4 billion merger with Italian lottery provider GTECH Holdings.

During IGT’s quarterly earnings conference call last week, company CEO Marco Sala said plans were underway to sell the Las Vegas corporate headquarters in southwest Las Vegas at 6355 S. Buffalo Drive near the 215 Beltway.

The building has approximately 610,000 square feet of space, of which 300,000 square feet is set aside for manufacturing. The entire campus sits on nearly 40 acres.

The merged company — which renamed itself IGT — has corporate headquarters in London. IGT maintains operating headquarters in Las Vegas, Rome and Providence, R.I.

IGT spokesman Phil O’Shaughnessy said in an email the company is “committed to maintaining a significant presence” in Nevada.

“We are exploring other locations in Las Vegas because the current campus is simply too large, so we would like to find an office building that better meets our business needs,” O’Shaughnessy said.

Brian Gordon, a principal with Las Vegas-based financial adviser Applied Analysis, said the IGT building is one of the largest available facilities in Southern Nevada.

Gordon thought the facility could be attractive to another slot machine manufacturer, but could also draw an out-of-state company into the market.

“Somebody that has a large need for a facility of that magnitude could step into an opportunity that doesn’t exist,” Gordon said. “Certainly, this could attract a business looking to relocate to Southern Nevada that has been unable to find a suitable amount of space.”

Gordon thought the IGT complex could be reconfigured for another company in the industrial market.

In Nevada, IGT will continue to focus on developing casino products and technology while maintaining research and development in studios in the state. The primary manufacturing operations will take place in Reno. The company’s Rhode Island location would house its U.S. lottery operations.

IGT said it was also closing other facilities in Rhode Island, Canada and Austria.

The GTECH-IGT merger is expected to result in almost $280 million in cost savings over the next three years.

In January, rival gaming equipment manufacturer Scientific Games Corp. moved its corporate headquarters to Las Vegas, taking over a building off the 215 Beltway that had been part of the Bally Technologies campus. Scientific Games bought Bally last year for $5.1 billion.

Shares of IGT gained 25 cents, or 1.38 percent, to close at $18.39.