On Tuesday, the Cordish Companies achieved market access to a gaming state it has been eager to enter for many years. 

Voters in Petersburg, Va. strongly backed a local referendum for a $1.4 billion mixed-use project featuring a $600 million casino resort named Live! Virginia Casino and Hotel. With all precincts in the city reporting, the Petersburg casino measure was approved with 82% support. 

Cordish, the Baltimore-based conglomerate specializing in hospitality, entertainment, and gaming that runs Live!-branded casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania, is collaborating with NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith and his Virginia real estate company Bruce Smith Enterprise on the Petersburg initiative.

"We are deeply gratified by the community’s affirmation of this project and very hopeful about the meaningful impact it will have on the city’s future,” said Smith. “The casino will not only create good-paying jobs for our residents but will also attract visitors statewide and beyond, stimulating local businesses and in turn producing an overall ripple effect of economic growth.”

“This marks a monumental step forward for the Petersburg community, as the approval paves the way for the development of a world-class casino and entertainment destination that promises to revitalize the local economy, create jobs, and invest in much-needed community services,” added a statement from Cordish.

Project Summary 

Cordish and Bruce Smith will initially allocate $600 million to create a Las Vegas-style integrated resort in Petersburg, situated about 25 miles south of the Richmond capital. The initiative features a 200-room hotel that offers eight restaurants and bars, 35,000 square feet of convention space, a concert hall with 3,000 seats, and a casino area with 1,600 slot machines, 46 live dealer tables, a 15-table poker area, and a sportsbook. 

During its initial ten years, the developers anticipate that the resort will provide the region with an economic boost of $2.8 billion, produce over $500 million in state and local tax income, and generate thousands of high-paying jobs with an average yearly salary and benefits of approximately $70,000. 

During the construction of the permanent resort, Cordish and Bruce Smith state they will operate a temporary gaming venue with around 1,000 slot machines, 23 table games, a poker area, as well as a bar and informal dining. 

Future stages of development once the casino resort is operational will encompass an extra hotel, residential units, office areas, and shopping facilities. 

How We Arrived at This Point 

Petersburg was not meant to have a casino. In 2020, legislators in Virginia and the governor at that time Ralph Northam (D) approved a legislation identifying five cities for casino establishments — Norfolk, Portsmouth, Bristol, Danville, and Richmond. 

The law required that casinos could only be established in towns that held local referendums showing support for a gaming project. In the 2020 election, every location except Richmond had successful votes in favor of the casinos. 

Richmond, attracting considerable attention from casino operators like Cordish, conducted its gaming referendum in 2021 after city officials selected Urban One, a Black-owned media conglomerate lacking any experience in casino construction or management, to partner with gaming company Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E). 

That year, Richmond residents voted 51%-49% against the casino named One Casino + Resort. Richmond city leaders later conducted a second referendum, this time alongside Churchill Downs and Urban One after the Kentucky-based racing and gaming powerhouse purchased P2E, yet Richmond residents rejected the gaming proposal even more firmly, with 58% against it. 

At Petersburg's request, state legislators revised the 2020 gaming law to permit the independent city in Dinwiddie County to consider a gaming initiative. 

Petersburg fulfills Cordish’s longstanding wish to break into the Virginia gaming market. The company failed to sue Norfolk, claiming it ought to have been its favored gaming developer based on a partnership from 2013 aimed at redeveloping the city’s Waterside District.