Voters in Petersburg will have their say on a casino plan that’s been months in the making.
Should the initiative pass, developers already have a plan to erect a temporary Virginia casino by the end of 2025.
The Petersburg Casino saga
A saga that began with five rival developers presenting plans to Petersburg residents in a town hall setting in April now hinges on Petersburg residents approving ballot language that will be placed before them this November.
Bruce Smith Enterprise and Cordish Companies, endeavoring to build a Live!-branded destination casino estimated at $1.4 billion, announced last week that the vote was a go. The green light puts Petersburg to be on track as the fifth Virginia city to approve hosting a casino since a 2020 statewide referendum opened the doors to it.
If approved, per the ballot language, the casino-hotel complex will go up on “an approximately 92.5-acre development site located off Interstate-95 at Wagner Road along Brassfield Parkway.”
Bruce Smith, the Pro Football Hall of Famer and Virginia Tech standout who heads up one of the project’s partner companies, said,
“I hail from Virginia, and I’m so gratified to be able to bring such an impactful project to a place I care about so deeply.”
Sam Parham, Petersburg’s mayor, declared in WRIC’s coverage,
“This has been a multi-year effort to go all in for new and better schools, all in on great paying jobs for Petersburg residents, all in for safer communities, all in for creating a better quality of life for all Petersburg citizens and all in to bring people from around the world to experience what makes Petersburg such a special place.”
Temporary site to feature 1,000 slots, 23 table games and a poker room
Should the measure be approved, the developers plan to build a temporary casino near the permanent casino site, which would include 1,000 slot machines, 23 live-action table games, a 15-table poker room, a casino bar and casual restaurant, and more than 1,500 free guest and employee parking spots, per the Progress-Index‘s story.
Per the partners’ joint statement, “The partners intend to quickly open an initial first phase casino within a year of voter approval to begin creating jobs, vendor opportunities, tax revenues, and many economic benefits immediately for the city of Petersburg and its residents.”
Two of the three Virginia casinos currently in operation are temporary sites. One in Bristol operates while a Hard Rock complex nears completion. The second in Danville operates while Caesars Virginia is being finished. Both permanent casinos should be up and running by the end of this year, meaning that Petersburg could be the casino to go live unless the currently stalled Norfolk casino plan gets back on track.
Outlying lawsuit still a possible impediment to Petersburg
A lawsuit threat still looms over the project. Shortly after the developers won the bid in a closed-door Petersburg City Council meeting, hospitality workers union Unite Here cried foul, threatening to sue and alleging the closed-door decision violated state law. The organization floated the idea of campaigning against the ballot initiative.
