‘Love Local’ launches to help National Landing businesses
National Landing Business Improvement District and the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington have launched a $100,000 joint relief initiative, Love Local, which will assist struggling restaurants and small businesses in Arlington’s National Landing neighborhood with minimum $1,000 grants. “Restaurants and small businesses are the backbone of our community in National Landing �[...]
Virginia restaurants grapple with plastic foam container ban
RICHMOND, Va. — From vermicelli bowls to crispy chicken, Pho Luca’s, a Vietnamese-owned Richmond restaurant, uses plastic foam containers to package takeout meals. That may soon change after the General Assembly recently passed a bill banning such packaging. After negotiations on a Senate amendment, the House agreed in a 57-39 vote last week on an […]
Richmond confirms six eligible bids for casino, seeks public input
Place your bets. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s office confirmed Friday that the six casino proposals made public this week all submitted proposals that are eligible for consideration by Richmond City Council and voters. The city also revealed the proposed locations for all six plans. Bally’s Corp. and Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos are interested in […]
Hotel revenues down 27% for January
Virginia hotel revenues for January 2021 were down 27% compared with January 2020, continuing the industry’s slow climb back to recovering from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released Thursday from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. For the same period, rooms […]
UPDATED: Golden Nugget, Wind Creek enter proposals to build Richmond casino
Updated 3 p.m., Feb. 24 Joining at least four other groups competing to be chosen as Richmond’s choice for a casino operator, bids from two other casino companies were made public Wednesday. Houston-based Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos has proposed a $400 million casino project about six miles from downtown, and Wind Creek Hospitality, affiliated […]
UPDATED: Richmond now has six major casino proposals
Updated Feb. 26 The city of Richmond is now considering six casino proposals, the mayor’s office announced Friday. Monday afternoon was the city’s deadline for its request for proposals, and all six submitted were deemed eligible. Starting next month, Richmond will hold public meetings with opportunities for citizen input. In addition to the Pamunkey Indian […]
Short Pump Hilton enters receivership
The Hilton Richmond Hotel and Spa in Short Pump has entered receivership after its owner, Shamin Hotels, fell behind on loan payments, according to documents filed in Henrico County Circuit Court. In an order dated Jan. 21, Fairfax-based based Crescent Hotel Management Services LLC was named special receiver for the Short Pump Hilton, which was […]
Rush Street Gaming announces general contractor for Portsmouth casino
Rush Street Gaming, the developer and gaming operator for the upcoming $300 million Rivers Casino Portsmouth, announced Friday it has chosen a joint venture between Virginia Beach-based S.B. Ballard Construction Co. and Philadelphia, Mississippi-based Yates Construction as the resort casino’s general contractor. Ballard and Yates will construct the 400,000-square-foot casino, which will incl[...]
Hilton to sell $1.5B in private debt offering
While the hospitality industry continues to struggle amid the pandemic, McLean-based Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday it will sell $1.5 billion in debt in a private offering to institutional buyers. This mark’s Hilton’s second major debt offering within the past couple of months. In November 2020, Hilton announced its $1.9 billion debt offering, from […]
Va. hotel revenues remain 51% lower than last year
Virginia hotel revenues continue to decline by more than 50% when compared with last year, according to data released Wednesday from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. Hotel revenues in Virginia dropped by 51% and rooms sold declined by 33% last week, compared with the […]
Hilton to sell $1.9B in debt in private offering
As hotel industry revenues continue plummeting, McLean-based Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. announced this week it will sell $1.9 billion in debt in a private offering to institutional buyers. The hotelier will sell $800 million of senior notes (due in 2029) at a 3.75% interest rate and an additional $1.1 billion at a 4% rate. Those […]
More than $1.9M in grants going to Va.’s tourism industry
While COVID-19 continues to slam the tourism and hospitality industries, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday that more than $1.9 million in matching grants will be disbursed among 161 local tourism initiatives as part of Virginia Tourism Corp.’s Recovery Marketing Leverage Program (RMLP). Although Virginia’s tourism industry had another record year in 2019, posting $27 billion [&hellip[...]