The future Live! Casino Hotel in Petersburg, Virginia, as imagined by the architects for Bruce Smith and the Cordish Companies. (Image: courtesy of the Cordish Companies)

The Petersburg City Council surprised observers on Wednesday by choosing Cordish Companies as the developer of its potential casino on Wednesday, as the city attempts to become the fifth casino host in the state of Virginia. 

Cordish is the same company that was chosen by Petersburg when it made its first push for a casino in 2022.

See also:

• Maryland casinos
• West Virginia casinos

City Council Makes Unexpected Decision at Wednesday Meeting

The company was one of five finalists considered for the project. Cordish beat out some of the bigger names in the gaming industry, including Bally’s, Penn Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming, and the Warrenton Group. All five finalists had presented their plans to the public in Petersburg on April 14.

However, it wasn’t the choice of Cordish that came as a surprise, so much as that any decision was made at all. 

The decision was made on Wednesday during a closed meeting that lasted under two hours. There was no published agenda item that suggested such an important decision would be made during the meeting, and council members refused to explain the decision to reporters who were in attendance. The process only took a few minutes after the council went into open session, and the vote was unanimous with no debate or explanation.

Ward 5 Councilor Howard Myers was the only councilor to comment afterwards, according to The Progress-Index. 

“The city of Petersburg has been grossly underrated and disenfranchised for decades,” Myers said in an email to The Progress-Index. The email also praised Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham for heading “the drive to accomplish the greatest feats of a city broken by the color of its skin.”

Myers also said that Petersburg’s chief financial advisor, Davenport & Co., had issued a report urging the council to choose Cordish for the project. 

Petersburg was left out of the original 2019 legislation that set five potential host cities for casinos in Virginia. The state’s General Assembly passed legislation this year that allowed Petersburg to replace Richmond as a potential host. It joins Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth as host cities. 

Bruce Smith, Cordish Planning $1.4 Billion Development

Cordish will partner with NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith – now a Virginia Beach developer – on the Petersburg casino project. Cordish has also developed two Hard Rock casinos in Florida, along with the Live! Casino & Hotel in Maryland. 

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Smith told The Virginian-Pilot on Thursday. “I’m so excited about this opportunity.”

A rendering of of the Live! Casino & Hotel’s gaming and entertainment district shows the promise that the Petersburg City Council is buying into. (Image: courtesy of the Cordish Companies)

Cordish and Smith have proposed a mixed-use development that includes both gambling and entertainment elements. The first phase of development on the 90-acre site would include a casino, an event center, and a 200-room hotel. Eventually, there would be $1.4 billion in development over the course of 15 years. 

On Thursday, Petersburg city spokesperson Joanne Williams released a statement via email touting the size of the project.

“If approved by citizens in November, the Destination Resort, which includes a casino, will be the largest economic development and tourism project in the city’s history,” the statement read.

But there’s still a long way to go before building can begin. First, Petersburg officials will look to get the Virginia Lottery Board to sign off on both the developer and the proposal itself. Next, the city and Cordish will need a Petersburg Circuit Court judge to allow a question of the proposal to go to the November ballot, where city residents will have to approval the proposal in a referendum. 

“We have work to do now,” Smith said. “We made some promises, and my goal and my team’s goal is to put the national spotlight on Petersburg and the people of Petersburg.”