Virginia: Nearly 82% of Petersburg residents vote 'yes' on Cordish's casino proposal

2024-11-06

United States

Reading time 1:33 min

Nearly 82% of Petersburg residents have voted 'yes' to the referendum to bring The Cordish Companies' mixed-used Live! Gaming & Entertainment District to the city, according to unofficial Election Day results from the Virginia Department of Elections, as of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. As reported by local media, 10.265 voters selected "yes," compared to 2.325 people voting "no".

The positive vote greenlights Cordish's $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel, which is set to be built on an undeveloped 100-acre site off Interstate 95 in Petersburg. It is the fifth casino voters have approved in Virginia, where casino gaming facilities were legalized by the General Assembly in 2020 with the requirement that local voters pass a referendum in support of the individual projects.


Rendering of The Cordish Companies' casino project

Developers said earlier this year that the Petersburg casino resort would be built in phases. The first phase would include a 200,000-square-foot casino, 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. Company officials anticipate 1,500 jobs with average salaries of $70,000 and an estimated $240 million in local tax revenue in the first 10 years.

Petersburg joins Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, and Portsmouth as Virginia's casino hosts, having replaced Richmond after voters there twice rejected a casino referendum. Bristol and Danville opened temporary casinos while their partners Hard Rock and Caesars, respectively, get final locations ready for opening later this year. Rush Street Gaming-owned Rivers Casino opened its permanent site on Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth. Meanwhile, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming broke ground in October for the long-delayed Norfolk casino.



Rendering of The Cordish Companies' casino project

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. Earlier this 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.