Petersburg City Council grants zoning approval for $1.4B casino resort

Petersburg City Council and Planning Commission unanimously gave final approval Tuesday for the zoning permits for Live! Casino Resort — paving the way for site development work to start in preparation for the construction of the multi-phase project.

The $1.4 billion casino resort, which will be built on an undeveloped 100-acre site at the intersection of Wagner Road and Interstate 95, is being co-developed by Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. and Virginia Beach developer Bruce Smith Enterprise and is scheduled to be completed in phases.

According to a news release from Cordish, the resort is expected to generate $2.8 billion in economic stimulus to the region, $504 million in tax revenues, including $240 million to the City of Petersburg alone, as well as $802 million in economic benefits during construction, $201 million in annual economic benefits each year after opening and over 7,500 new construction and permanent jobs in its first 10 years.

“We are grateful to our partners at the City of Petersburg for moving so quickly to get these zoning permits approved,” said Cordish Gaming Group President Rob Norton in a statement. “Our team is excited to move forward with the construction work so that we can start generating tax revenue for the city and jobs for Petersburg residents. The first-phase casino is the initial step in our long-term commitment to building a world-class destination for the city and region.”

Cordish hopes the casino will spur significant urban development and create a thriving entertainment and hospitality destination. The project will contain more than 450,000 square feet of gaming, hotel and dining space, as well as over 75,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

The project will also feature an upscale 200-room hotel featuring 20 suites, a resort pool and fitness center, 1,600 state-of-the-art slot machines, 65 live action table games, high-limit slot and table areas, a 4,000-seat state-of-the-art entertainment venue, 10 best-in-class food and entertainment options, and free surface parking.

The casino plans to hire employees in numerous fields including hotel operations, finance, marketing, human resources, information technologies, food and beverage, facilities, security and surveillance and gaming operations. According to the release, hiring preference will be given to local residents first, then surrounding communities.

Cordish did not immediately respond to questions inquiring about the construction timeline of the project.

In November 2024, more than 80% of Petersburg voters said yes to the city’s casino referendum, giving the project the green light.

Virginia has three operating casinos: Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the state’s first permanent casino; the Hard Rock Bristol Casino, which opened in November; and the Caesars Virginia casino in Danville, which opened in December.

Meanwhile, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming started construction on the long-delayed Norfolk casino earlier this month.

All four of those casino projects were passed via local referendum in 2020, but Richmond voters rejected the Urban One casino project in 2021 and 2023 votes. Last year, Virginia General Assembly lawmakers passed legislation that gave Petersburg a chance to host a casino, pending voters’ approval of a referendum on the November ballot, and barred Richmond from a third try. The state’s casino laws cap the number of casinos to one per city in five designated cities: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and now Petersburg, which replaced Richmond.