Virginia: City council selects Cordish as preferred casino vendor for Petersburg project

Virginia's city of Petersburg unanimously chose The Cordish Companies on Wednesday to build a casino should voters approve the move in a referendum. 

Ward 5 Councilor Howard Myers, who made the motion to go with Cordish and BSE’s $1.4 billion proposal for 92 acres off Wagner Road in south Petersburg, said in an email to The Progress-Index that he was "ecstatic about the potentially transformative opportunities" stemming from the proposal.

Cordish/BSE's proposal was chosen over Bally’s Corporation, Penn Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming, and the partnership of The Warrenton Group and entertainment company Delaware North to get the casino business, which still must pass a November referendum before any shovels can be turned. 

"The city of Petersburg has been grossly underrated and disenfranchised for decades," Myers, also a former mayor, said in the email. He went on to praise Mayor Sam Parham for leading "the drive to accomplish the greatest feats of a city broken by the color of its skin." 

Myers shed some light on the decision reached after a 90-minute closed session discussing the casino. He said Davenport & Co., Petersburg’s Chief Financial Advisor, issued a report urging the council to choose Cordish.

Senator Lashrecse Aird

The five vendors had a chance on April 14 to plead their cases in a town hall meeting sponsored by state Sen. Lashrecse Aird, the Chief Co-Patron of legislation establishing Petersburg as the fifth Virginia city to host a casino and nurture Virginia’s foray into the gambling industry. After failed attempts in the last two General Assembly sessions, Aird led the legislative effort for Petersburg to replace Richmond in the original 2019 bill that also named Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, and Portsmouth as host cities.

The deal was all but sealed on April 17 during the reconvened session when Aird persuaded her colleagues to back Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s request to remove House of Delegates-generated language that would have required a second Assembly vote before the referendum could be held. 

Aird told The Progress-Index in a statement that "during the reconvened session, the General Assembly took action to move [Senate Bill] 628 forward, which allows Petersburg to be an eligible host city and move towards a referendum on a casino. As a result, the city had the responsibility for the next steps which included the selection of an operator, which they have formally now done."

The Cordish/BSE's proposed project is expected to generate billions of dollars in economic benefits and spinoff development, create thousands of new jobs and benefits to the local community, and become a major new tourist destination for the City and the Central Virginia region, the companies said in a statement. 

The proposed site is situated at the intersection of Wagner Road and Interstate I-95 with easy access on and off the East Coast's major north-south interstate. The parties propose to open an initial first-phase casino within a year.