Petersburg prepares for casino referendum vote

This November, Petersburg voters will decide the fate of a highly anticipated casino development that could transform the city’s struggling economy. If approved, the proposed $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia project will be built on an undeveloped 100-acre site off Interstate 95, offering easy access to East Coast travelers.

“I have worked for over two years to give Petersburg residents this once-in-a-generation opportunity,” says Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham. “We are one of the most fiscally distressed cities in the commonwealth, and this will give the city that revenue shot it has needed for quite some time.”

The proposed project is a joint venture between Baltimore-based real estate developer The Cordish Cos. and Bruce Smith Enterprise, a Virginia Beach-based development firm led by Norfolk native and Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.

If approved, the casino’s first phase will span 200,000 square feet, featuring 1,000 slot machines and 23 table games. The full 400,000-square-foot project, to be completed two years after approvals, would include a 200-room hotel, 1,600 slot machines, 46 live-action table games, a 3,000-seat entertainment venue and eight food and entertainment establishments, three of which would be reserved for Petersburg businesses.

“Virginia is home for me, and I take my commitment to improve my communities and create jobs very seriously,” says Smith, noting that the development’s creation of 1,500 jobs with average salaries of $70,000 would significantly raise the city’s median household income, which was approximately $47,000 in 2022. The casino would bring in an estimated $240 million in local tax revenue in the first 10 years.

Nevertheless, the selection process for the development team was controversial. Just before the Virginia General Assembly approved Petersburg as the commonwealth’s fifth approved locality to host a casino, the city manager signed a letter of intent naming Bally’s as the city’s choice
of casino operator, setting off questions about potential political pressure. A week later, city officials abruptly reversed the decision in favor of Cordish, a choice Parham stands by as best for the city.

“Petersburg first” is the slogan of the development team, which has set up a local campaign office and scheduled vendor fairs in anticipation of a favorable vote. “We will work to help smaller contractors partner with larger contractors so they can get the kind of work that’s meaningful,” says Zed Smith, Cordish’s chief operating officer.