Bay 101 Casino in San Jose Under New Ownership

A casino in San Jose has come under new ownership after a nearly $72 million deal — though it’s still all in the family.

The site of the Bay 101 casino at 1788 North 1st Street in San Jose sold for $71.7 million, SiliconValley.com reported. The buyer was Timothy Bumb, CEO of Bay 101 cardroom operator Sutter’s Place, while the seller was his brother, Brian Bumb, of S.J. Bayshore Development. Timothy Bumb is also an executive at S.J. Bayshore.

The $70 million-plus transaction was only for the property and doesn’t affect the casino’s operations, as ownership and management will remain in place, per SiliconValley.com.

The purchase price was 88.2 percent above the property’s $38.3 million assessed value in January 2024, according to SiliconValley.com. To finance the purchase, Sutter’s Place obtained a $65 million loan from Western Alliance Bank.

Documentary transfer taxes for the transaction include about $78,900 for Santa Clara County taxes, about $236,700 in city of San Jose taxes, and approximately $1.1 million for San Jose’s Measure E real estate transfer tax, according to the deed.

Last year, Sutter’s Place, doing business as Bay 101, was involved in a legal spat with S.J. Bayshore Development, the landlord of the casino property, over Sutter Place’s future ability to purchase the property, according to law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass, which represented Bay 101.

Sutter’s Place sued S.J. Bayshore for breaching the parties’ lease agreement. In the suit, Bay 101 claims that S.J. Bayshore refused to choose an appraiser or conduct an appraisal of the property on which the cardroom is located, thereby delaying Bay 101’s ability to exercise the option and buy the property.

Bay 101 was allegedly seeking $54 million in damages. Ultimately, a Santa Clara Superior Court jury awarded $14.2 million in damages to Bay 101 and declared that S.J. Bayshore wasn’t entitled to any recovery on any of its claims of fraudulent concealment.

In addition to the Bay 101 casino, the Bumb family owns the flea market property at 1590 Berryessa Road near the Berryessa BART station. There are plans to potentially redevelop the site into a mixed-use property primarily consisting of housing, though construction has yet to begin.

— Chris Malone Méndez