Bally’s pays $8.5M to Catholic institute to support school in Throgs Neck

The entertainment conglomerate Bally’s Corporation through its nonprofit affiliate Bally’s Foundation North America, Inc. paid $8.5 million to the Sisters of the Divine Compassion for the high school campus at 2780 Schurz Avenue in Throgs Neck, Bronx. The Catholic institution runs the all-girls Preston High School, which had considering shutting down because of funding and attendance concerns.

The sale is part of a negotiation involving New York Attorney General Letitia James to keep the school open, financed with the $8.5 million purchase and an additional $1 million from Bally’s. Bally’s, through Bally’s New York Operating Company, is seeking to build a massive gaming complex on a portion of what is now the parking lot, clubhouse and adjacent space at Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point golf course, about a mile west of the school.

The agreement gives the school a 25-year lease for $1 per year as well as an optionto repurchase the property, Gothamist reported.

The deal closed on April 25, 2025 and was recorded on May 1, 2025. The property has 29,733 square feet of built space and 70,805 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 101,150 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $285 and the price per buildable square foot is $84 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for Sisters of the Divine Compassion was Laura Donovan . The signatory for Bally’s Corporation was Craig Eaton . The contract date was April 25, 2025.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Bally’s Corporation had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Sisters of the Divine Compassion had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The specialty building in Throgs Neck has 29,733 square feet of built space and 70,805 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 101,150 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 603 feet and is 275 feet deep with a total lot size of 202,300 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C3A which allows for up to 0.5 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial and up to 0.5 times FAR for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $9 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $1,875 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Throgs Neck, The bulk, or 36 percent of the 5.4 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 29 percent of the space. In sales, Throgs Neck has the 29th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in Bronx with $30.1 million in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Throgs Neck has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had -204,735 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents -3.81 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of four of the seven commercial properties representing zero square feet of the 36,939 square feet. The identified owner is City Of New York.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 84 percent of the 36,939 square feet of built space are specialty buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 16 percent of the space.

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