Roanoke eyes casino at Berglund Center

Roanoke city officials are exploring the possibility of locating a casino at the city’s civic center.

Mayor Joe Cobb and City Manager Valmarie H. Turner spoke at a news conference Tuesday about the possibility of locating a casino at the Special Events Center at the Berglund Center.

“The goal for this project is to inspire economic growth through increased entertainment, dining and lodging options with a refurbished civic center,” Cobb stated in a news release.

The idea was sparked partially by Gov. Glenn Youngkin attempting to create a gaming commission to oversee all forms of gambling in Virginia. That effort didn’t make it through the General Assembly, but Roanoke officials thought there might be more appetite for forming the commission after this November’s elections, when Virginia will elect a new governor and new state delegates, according to Marc Nelson, the city’s economic development director. With a gaming commission, the state might be more willing to entertain the idea of offering casino licenses in additional cities, he speculated.

Since the General Assembly first legalized casino gaming in a handful of approved cities back in 2020, casinos have already opened in Danville, Portsmouth and Bristol. And casinos in Norfolk and Petersburg are in the works.

“Just reading the tea leaves,” Nelson said, “we thought that it might be a good time to put our hat in the ring.”

City officials did not offer a timeline for when they hoped a casino could open in Roanoke, a project that would require approval from the General Assembly and a local referendum for voters to have their say.

A casino at the Berglund Center could offer additional event spaces, restaurants, a hotel and added parking, Cobb said Tuesday.

“The Berglund Center has been underperforming for a couple of years,” Nelson added. “We just thought it would be a good thing to take a look at.”

State Sen. David Suetterlein, whose district includes Roanoke city, and Del. Joe McNamara, who represents part of the city, issued a joint press release Tuesday in opposition to the proposed casino. In it, they note that the civic center has a $2.5 million budget shortfall. Both McNamara and Suetterlein are Republicans.

“The city government’s endless pursuit of new money with a casino around the corner from where a gas station closed due to crime is completely misguided,” McNamara stated.

A casino could help with Roanoke’s money concerns, though. The city spent more than $5 million during the 2023-2024 fiscal year than City Council authorized.

City Manager Bob Cowell resigned in May 2024 amid claims of employees facing a toxic work culture. He was replaced by Turner in January.

“As the new city manager, it was essential to begin assessing the city’s financial stability and overall assets, particularly the Berglund Center,” Turner said in a statement. “This initiative presents an opportunity to create an entertainment district that would significantly enhance tourism, stimulate economic growth and generate increased revenue for both the city and the region — funds that can be reinvested in our neighborhoods, schools, public safety and infrastructure.”

Casinos in Virginia have proven a safe bet for localities’ bottom lines.

According to data provided by the Virginia Lottery and tabulated by Virginia Business, the state’s casinos in Bristol, Danville and Portsmouth brought in about $732.2 million in adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings) in 2024.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, with 6% of a casino operator’s AGR going to its host locality until the operator passes $200 million in AGR for the year, at which point the host locality’s tax rate rises to 7%. If an operator passes $400 million in AGR in the calendar year, the local tax rate rises to 8%.

For August alone, Portsmouth received 6% of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth‘s adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings), taking in roughly $1.8 million. Danville received 7% of the Caesars Virginia casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, amounting to roughly $2.41 million in August. For the Bristol casino, 6% of its adjusted gaming revenue — nearly $1.34 million last month — went to the Regional Improvement Commission, which the General Assembly established to distribute Bristol casino tax funds throughout Southwest Virginia.

And none of those figures include the ancillary economic impact from casino tourism and related spending.

The Virginia Lottery Board approved the casino license for Bristol’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in April 2022. The Bristol casino’s temporary facility opened in July 2022, making it the first operating casino in Virginia, followed by the permanent Hard Rock casino resort, which opened in November 2024.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened as Virginia’s first permanent casino in January 2023.

Caesars Virginia opened in December 2024. Before that, there was a temporary Caesars Virginia casino which received its casino license in April 2023 and opened in May 2023.

Two more casinos are on the horizon in Virginia.

Construction began on the long-awaited $750 million Norfolk casino by development partners Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in February. A temporary casino, dubbed The Interim Gaming Hall, is expected to open in November.

In November 2024, more than 80% of Petersburg voters approved a casino referendum. Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. and Virginia Beach developer Bruce Smith Enterprise broke ground on the $1.4 billion casino in March.

On Tuesday evening, Roanoke council member Nick Hagen said he had been hearing from constituents who had thoughts about the possibility of a casino opening in the Star City.

“It’s been relatively mixed, like there’s some people who are very much in support of it, [who] think that it’s a good idea,” he said. “There’s some [who] have concerns about the impact of crime … as well as what it will do to property values around the area.”