Cordish unveils $1.4 billion plan for casino resort in Petersburg
Petersburg City Council took a big next step in sealing a deal with The Cordish Companies on Tuesday night to develop a $1.4 billion casino resort over the next 15 years in the economically struggling city.
The council voted unanimously to select the Baltimore-based company to develop the casino resort in three phases on about 80 acres along Interstate 95 at Wagner Road in the southeastern corner of Petersburg — with contingencies.
“Just because council voted tonight doesn’t mean this is a done deal,” City Manager John March Altman said at the end of the meeting.
The biggest contingency is General Assembly approval to allow casino gaming under state law, but Cordish made clear after the meeting that the project also depends on preventing Richmond from approving a proposed casino resort less than 25 miles away that its voters rejected last year.
The presentation provided the first detailed look at the project for the public, which generally responded positively to a project that Smith described as “a once in a generation opportunity.”
“Nothing like this has come along in Petersburg’s modern history,” said former City Attorney Michael Packer, a lifelong Petersburg resident.
Cordish emerged as the favored suitor almost two months ago, when city council emerged from a closed meeting to approve a resolution to “explore the partnership” with the company to develop a “destination casino resort.”
The council also approved a consulting agreement then with The Speller Consulting Group, retroactive to July 1, to run “a quantifiable process” for recommending a casino operator and site, as well as negotiating contractual terms, community benefits and a half-dozen other duties.
Petersburg agreed to pay the company, owned by Lisa Speller, $5,000 a month under a consulting addendum. The city approved the addendum as an extension of a one-year consulting agreement it had signed with Speller in February. Under the original agreement, the consultant receives compensation of $10,000 a month.
The city provided the agreement and addendum to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in late November in response to a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but the city said it had no public records of “any solicitations, public or private” of potential casino developers or any evaluation of proposed projects. It exempted any information discussed in close meetings.
After the meeting on Tuesday, Speller clarified that she had considered five potential casino developers on behalf of the city.
Cordish, which had been a finalist in a six-way competition to develop a casino resort in Richmond last year, emerged as the preferred partner, largely because of its track record in developing and operating casinos under the Live! and Hard Rock brands in cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, St. Louis, Tampa and Hollywood, Fla.
“Although we are in the gaming business, we are also primarily in the economic development business,” Smith said.
The first phase of the project would include a 230,000-square-foot casino, a 200-room hotel, dining and retail businesses. It would take about two years to complete, beginning with receiving state approval of Petersburg as an eligible host city to allow casino gaming, and a voter referendum in November.
In 2020, the assembly legalized casino gaming in five cities, subject to voter approval. Voters approved proposed projects in Bristol, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Danville, but a referendum failed in Richmond last year for the ONE Casino + Resort proposed by Urban One and Peninsula Pacific Entertainment next to I-95 at the Bells Road exit in South Richmond.
Richmond sought to revive the project and hold a second voter referendum this year, but the General Assembly blocked the vote at the request of Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, to allow the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the feasibility of a casino resort in Petersburg, either by itself or in addition to a casino in Richmond.
In 2020, the assembly legalized casino gaming in five cities, subject to voter approval. Voters approved proposed projects in Bristol, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Danville, but a referendum failed in Richmond last year for the ONE Casino + Resort proposed by Urban One and Peninsula Pacific Entertainment next to I-95 at the Bells Road exit in South Richmond.
Richmond sought to revive the project and hold a second voter referendum this year, but the General Assembly blocked the vote at the request of Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, to allow the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the feasibility of a casino resort in Petersburg, either by itself or in addition to a casino in Richmond.
Petersburg strongly opposes allowing Richmond a second opportunity to approve a casino. Morrissey and Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, have proposed legislation to block a second referendum at least until Petersburg voters have their first chance to approve one.
Packer, speaking to council in favor of the project, likened the political showdown to “David and Goliath,” with Petersburg as the underdog in a lobbying fight that one senior state legislator predicted would be “a brawl.”
“Petersburg will far more benefit from a casino than Richmond,” he said. “This will allow the government to do its job with the resources it needs.”
Some residents remained skeptical about the expected benefits, including an estimated $214 million in additional tax revenue over 15 years, and the help that a project on the outskirts of the city would bring to downtown Petersburg.
Smith cited the tax revenues and jobs estimated by JLARC and said, “We believe we can and will do better those numbers.”
“Our job is to bring more people to Petersburg,” he said.
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