Officials said the venue, opening in 2023, would generate $38 million in annual revenues, including $22 million to the city, $12 million in annual supplemental payments and $4.2 million in meals, sales, lodging and property taxes. City officials said the project will create 1,300 jobs.
In last month’s election, Virginia voters in Danville, Bristol, Norfolk and Portsmouth approved casino gambling by significant margins. Of the four cities, only Danville used a competitive bidding process to choose a casino operator.
The city issued a request for proposals in December 2019, and received responses from seven companies. Ultimately city officials chose Caesars Entertainment to develop a $400 million casino resort with 2,000 slots, 75 table games, 16 poker tables and a sportsbook, plus a 300-room 4-star hotel, 35,000-square-foot conference center, 2,500-seat performance venue, pool and spa.
Officials said the venue, opening in 2023, would generate $38 million in annual revenues, including $22 million to the city, $12 million in annual supplemental payments and $4.2 million in meals, sales, lodging and property taxes. City officials said the project will create 1,300 jobs. Meanwhile, Caesars Virginia LLC recently presented Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones with an upfront payment of $15 million, spelled out in the operator’s development agreement with the city if the casino referendum passed.
Jones said, “Today, we take another step forward in our partnership with Caesars Virginia. City council and city staff worked diligently in negotiations with Caesars Virginia to get the best possible outcome for our citizens and bring much-needed revenue. This payment is evidence of that effort, and we look forward to working with Caesars Virginia as this project advances from stage to stage.”
With the payment, the city can move forward with building a new $6 million police department headquarter. City council will determine later how to spend the $9 million balance. Danville City Manager Ken Larking said, “We want to make sure that we use these funds to improve the lives of our residents. This means addressing needs that we’ve not been able to afford and investing in projects and programs that will lead to a strong local economy with economic opportunity for all who choose to call Danville home.”
Richmond officials said they do plan to use a competitive bidding process to select a casino site and operator in summer 2021. Larking said he discussed Danville’s bidding process with Richmond leaders last month.
Larking said the competitive bidding process resulted in better proposals from casino operators. “They knew they were competing against others. If you try to negotiate behind the scenes with one or two companies, it doesn’t create the kind of environment that would push the developer to put forth their best effort.”
City Councilman Lee Vogler noted, “We felt like that competitive bidding ultimately give us the best deal rather than just jumping with whoever came to us early on. If you’re giving everybody a fair shot at it, it really eliminates any possibility of favoritism.”
The city council in Norfolk has chosen the Pamunkey Indian Tribe as its casino operator.
Portsmouth selected Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming for its casino project in November 2019. Portsmouth Director of Economic Development Robert Moore said the city did not hold a competitive bidding process but vetted five companies before choosing Rush Street. Moore said, “We knew what to ask for.”
Portsmouth officials said the $300 million casino project would create 1,400 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs. The city expects to receive $16.3 million in annual tax revenue from the casino resort. It will be built on 52 acres owned by the city’s economic development authority, which would sell the property to the casino gaming provider for $10 million. Moore said the city and Rush Street are awaiting state licensing.
Recently the Bristol Virginia City Council voted unanimously to certify HR Bristol LLC as the city’s preferred gaming operator for the $400 million Hard Rock Bristol casino resort at the former Bristol Mall. HR Bristol, the only company to submit a proposal, is expected to apply for a gaming license by April 2021. The Virginia Lottery Board will have finalized casino regulations by then.
City Manager Randy Eads said, “The city has now completed everything it needed to in order to move this project forward.”
