Cordish Unveils Revamped $1.4B Combined-Use On line casino Improvement
The Cordish Corporations on Monday unveiled particulars of its revamped pitch for a $1.4 billion mixed-use improvement that includes an built-in resort on line casino for Virginia’s Petersburg.
A rendering of Dwell! On line casino & Lodge Virginia in Petersburg. The Cordish Corporations undertaking features a important minority possession part. (Picture: The Cordish Corporations)
Cordish, the operator of Dwell! casinos and hospitality districts, first offered Petersburg with a on line casino proposal in 2022. With the percentages enhancing that the Virginia metropolis can be afforded a gaming license by means of state laws and a subsequent native referendum, the Baltimore-based agency has up to date and strengthened its pitch.
Cordish reps informed On line casino.org Monday that the corporate has partnered with Virginia native and NFL Corridor of Famer Bruce Smith’s actual property improvement agency, Bruce Smith Enterprise, for a residential and leisure district anchored by a gaming vacation spot that might be known as Dwell! On line casino & Lodge Virginia.
The proposed undertaking, a Cordish assertion stated, would generate billions of {dollars} in financial advantages for the state and economically distressed metropolis and make use of 1000’s of individuals.
Dwell! Virginia Blueprint
The Dwell! On line casino & Lodge Virginia plan requires over 400,000 sq. toes of gaming, lodge, and eating house.
The on line casino would provide 1,600 slot machines, 46 reside seller desk video games, a 15-table poker site, and a sportsbook. The resort part would come with 200 rooms and suites, a resort pool and health heart, a 3,000-seat live performance venue, and eight eating places and bars. The resort would make use of 1,500 individuals, with Cordish saying the common $70K annual compensation would function “life-enhancing advantages.”
Cordish is focusing on the on line casino resort on the intersection of Wagner Street and Interstate 95. The corporate says its partnership with Bruce Smith Enterprise is the primary of its form within the gaming trade to have a minority-owned enterprise as a co-development companion. It’s an honor Smith is most blissful to tackle.
I’m assured that Bruce Smith Enterprise and The Cordish Corporations are the precise companions for this endeavor, as a result of we share the identical imaginative and prescient and perceive the wants of the Metropolis of Petersburg and its residents,” Smith stated. “Collectively, we are able to do outstanding work in Petersburg that can remodel lives, restore hope, and finally imbue a brand new power of revitalization that can be felt for generations.”
Cordish, if its Petersburg on line casino is greenlit, would open an “preliminary part” of the on line casino inside a yr of approval to “start creating jobs” whereas the everlasting resort is constructed. On line casino income would additionally, after all, assist Cordish and Smith finance the scheme.
Together with Smith, the 50% minority composition for Dwell! Virginia would come with former Cox Communications government Gary McCollum, former Philadelphia Eagle and College of Virginia All-American Invoice McMullen, and the Reynolds household that owns Reynolds Metals headquartered in Richmond.
Cordish didn’t instantly present particulars on the mixed-use features of the $1.4 billion scheme, nor how a lot of that finances would go towards the resort. Artist renderings, nonetheless, present a sprawling complicated with what seems to be a number of residence and condominium residential buildings surrounded by retail shops and workplace house.
Path to Poll
If Virginia lawmakers conform to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) proposed adjustments to the Petersburg on line casino invoice — particularly, eradicating the reenactment clause — the Petersburg Metropolis Council can be cleared to area formal bids for the gaming alternative. The town not too long ago accomplished a request for proposal (RFP) that garnered responses from a handful of firms.
Together with Cordish, Bally’s Company, Penn Leisure, Rush Avenue Gaming, and The Warrenton Group expressed curiosity.
