Petersburg’s casino plan took a big step forward last week. The Virginia Lottery approved the proposal to build a casino in the Virginia city.
The Progress-Index reported last week that the Lottery, which oversees the three active casinos in the commonwealth and other gambling-related concerns, issued a letter “certifying Petersburg as a casino host city and granting permission ‘to proceed to the local referendum.'”
The Petersburg City Council is expected to officially adopt a resolution on the referendum this week. That would put Petersburg voters on track to decide in November whether to permit a casino. The Petersburg Circuit Court must also sign off on the deal.
Petersburg could become 5th VA city with a casino
Should voters approve the plan, Petersburg would become the fifth Virginia city authorized to host a casino. Rivers Casino Portsmouth is the only casino in Virginia operating in its permanent facility.
Casinos in Bristol and Danville are in temporary facilities. Permanent resorts in both cities are on track to open by year’s end.
Norfolk’s casino plan has been hung up in an architectural review process for the last six months, with no indication of resolution on the horizon. Virginia online casinos remain illegal, but sweepstakes and social casinos are legal to play online in the commonwealth.
Casino-branded Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia
The Virginia Lottery letter gives its blessing to PPE Casino Resorts Petersburg LLC, the city’s chosen casino operator. PPE is a limited liability corporation created by Bruce Smith Enterprise (BSE), a development company helmed by former NFL and Virginia Tech football star Bruce Smith, and The Cordish Companies, a Maryland-based casino developer behind the Live! casino brand.
The proposal was one of five that emerged earlier this year after Richmond bowed out of the running to become one of the state’s casino-hosting cities.
In a controversial process, the Cordish and BSE proposal won out over Bally’s, which City Manager John Altman Jr. signaled was the city’s initial choice via a letter to help the General Assembly’s authorization along. Other bids came from PENN Entertainment, Rivers/Rush Street Gaming, and a particularly expansive one involving the Warrenton Group, Delaware North, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, and Virginia State University.
According to the Progress-Index, the new casino would be Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia, which would expand the Cordish gaming brand most familiar to Virginians via Live! Maryland, located in Hanover.
The Live! brand also includes casino and hotel properties in Florida and Pennsylvania.
