Petersburg breaks ground on $1.4 billion casino resort

Under a sunny Wednesday morning sky, Petersburg city officials and a group of developers officially broke ground on the city’s $1.4 billion casino resort. 

Construction is now underway for the multiphase project, which will span 92 acres near the intersection of Wagner Road and Interstate 95. The project is co-developed by Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. and Virginia Beach’s Bruce Smith Enterprise. 

Petersburg city officials were joined by the developers, state representatives and local partners to dig shovels into a pile of dirt covered with red pairs of dice and poker chips, signifying the beginning of construction for the casino. 

Ed Evans of Cordish Gaming Group, the gaming division of Cordish Cos., hosted a program that included speeches from Petersburg Mayor Samuel Parham, gaming group President Rob Norton, Bruce Smith of Bruce Smith Enterprise and others. 

The project is set to include more than 450,000 square feet of gaming, hotel and dining space and over 75,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. 

Also planned are a 200-room hotel complete with 20 suites, a resort pool and fitness center, 1,600 slot machines, table areas including a 22-table poker room, and a 4,000-seat entertainment venue. 

The casino resort is slated to bring $2.8 billion in economic stimulus for the region and over 6,100 construction jobs and 1,400 permanent jobs in its first decade being open, according to the Cordish Cos. 

The company said hiring preference for new jobs will be given to local residents first.

Petersburg and casino officials touted the benefits the casino would bring to Petersburg and the region at Wednesday’s event. 

“Today is a defining moment. Live! Casino and Hotel in Virginia will be that transformative moment for the City of Petersburg,” said Cordish Cos. COO Zed Smith. 

“This $1.4 billion transformational project marks the beginning of a new chapter for Petersburg, defined by progress, opportunity and growth,” Parham added. “Its impact goes far beyond bricks and mortar.” 

The project also promises $240 million in tax revenue in its first decade to the City of Petersburg alone, which Norton announced to cheers from the crowd.  

Cordish and Bruce Smith Enterprise, the latter run by NFL Hall of Famer and Virginia Tech legend Bruce Smith, plan to concurrently construct a temporary, 75,000-square-foot casino facility on the site to open by the end of 2025, Norton said. 

“That’s allowing us to move those economic benefits forward, start jobs earlier, start the flow of income to the community faster,” Norton said. 

The temporary casino would create about 500 jobs and would have around 900 slot machines, 33 table games, a bar and a quick-service restaurant, he added. 

The official casino resort is slated to open in 2027, at which point the temporary casino would be demolished. 

Norton also announced at the groundbreaking that the Virginia Live! Casino Resort has reached an agreement with nearby Richard Bland College to host an educational program to train students in casino dealing at the school. The program should begin this summer. 

“This dealer’s institute is going to put students through who are going to get high-paying jobs in our community,” said Richard Bland College President Debbie Sydow. 

Last November, about 80% of Petersburg residents voted yes in a referendum to allow the casino in the city. The vote was the highest support for a casino referendum in Virginia history.

Petersburg was not the first option for a new casino in central Virginia. The Virginia General Assembly previously gave five “economically distressed” localities permission to work on casino projects in 2020, including South Richmond, whose residents ultimately turned down the project twice. 

The General Assembly passed legislation last April making Petersburg eligible to host a casino. Petersburg City Council then selected Cordish as the developer. 

At the groundbreaking, Bruce Smith expressed his excitement for the future of Petersburg and the Virginia Live! Casino Resort. 

“No longer will people drive past Petersburg,” Smith said. “Instead, they will make plans to drive to Petersburg.”