Petersburg Fields 5 Responses to On line casino Request for Proposal
The Petersburg Metropolis Council’s Request for Proposal (RFP) interval that ended final month garnered 5 responses from corporations fascinated by probably partnering with the Virginia city on a on line casino resort improvement.
A rendering of The Cordish Corporations’ pitch for an built-in resort on line casino in Petersburg. The chances are good that the Virginia metropolis can be allotted a on line casino alternative. (Picture: The Cordish Corporations)
State lawmakers this yr voted to relocate the Richmond on line casino license about 25 miles south to Petersburg after residents within the capital twice voted in opposition to changing into a on line casino vacation spot. It’s doubtless that Petersburg will quickly be a part of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville, and Bristol in being designated as a on line casino host by state lawmakers.
Gov. Glenn Younkin (R) this week returned laws to qualify the economically downtrodden metropolis for a on line casino to the Normal Meeting. The governor requested the Home of Delegates and Senate to take away the reenactment clause that might require state lawmakers to vote once more on the Petersburg on line casino designation earlier than an area referendum on the matter might be held.
Petersburg officers opened the on line casino RFP in February to gauge curiosity. Town obtained 5 responses, and a number of other are nationally identified on line casino builders and operators.
Handful of Replies
The 5 corporations that accomplished the RFP embrace The Cordish Corporations, Penn Leisure, Bally’s Company, Rush Road Gaming, and The Warrenton Group.
Penn Leisure relies in Pennsylvania and is likely one of the nation’s largest regional on line casino builders and operators. The corporate primarily operates beneath the Hollywood on line casino model.
Cordish is headquartered in Baltimore and pitched Petersburg a $1.4 billion mixed-use improvement in 2022 with an built-in resort on line casino. Cordish operates 4 Dwell!-branded casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Bally’s relies in Rhode Island and is growing a $1.1 billion on line casino in downtown Chicago. The corporate is amid monetary struggles, nevertheless, and was not too long ago dealt a number of credit score downgrades.
Rush Road Gaming is headquartered in Chicago and owns and operates Rivers On line casino Portsmouth. The corporate additionally runs Rivers casinos in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York.
Warrenton is a Washington, DC-based actual property agency that claims on its web site it’s an “innovator” in growing “mixed-income and market-rate housing” and has developed over $1 billion in actual property. It has no on line casino holdings.
Cordish the Favourite?
State lawmakers mulled allocating Petersburg a on line casino license in 2021 and 2022. Throughout that point, Petersburg partnered with Cordish and the corporate pitched a $1.4 billion endeavor that was to be constructed over a number of phases and years.
The Virginia Normal Meeting finally folded on the Petersburg efforts throughout these legislative periods. Petersburg confronted criticism for not holding a aggressive bid for its doable on line casino and seemingly putting a backroom cope with the Dwell! on line casino operator.
Metropolis officers are taking a extra clear method this time round. Cordish believes it nonetheless presents the most effective alternative for Petersburg, a metropolis with a Black majority inhabitants.
Cordish has teamed up with NFL Corridor of Famer Bruce Smith to make its case. Smith, a Norfolk native, performed for the Buffalo Payments and Washington Commanders throughout his storied 19-year profession.
Smith, who ventured into actual property after his enjoying profession led to 2003, says Petersburg officers want to select a developer that has ties to Virginia.
“Outsourcing a undertaking of this magnitude to a visiting developer with no ties or curiosity in uplifting the group will do little to repair the issue,” Smith mentioned in a launch from Cordish. “Altering outcomes in traditionally disenfranchised and underserved populations requires that we should be offered the alternatives to strengthen our communities from inside.”
