During a gathering Monday evening, June 12, the Richmond City Council voted 8 to 1 in favor of the invoice that will put ONE Casino+Resort again on the November poll, which is able to probably transfer to a second referendum vote for voters to assume once more about permitting the proposed $562.5 million ONE Casino + Resort to be inbuilt Richmond. In addition, the Council additionally selected RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC, a three way partnership between Urban One Inc. and Churchill Downs Inc., for the on line casino operator.
Community host settlement and neighborhood help settlement:
Members of the Council additionally voted to signal a neighborhood host settlement between town and RVA Entertainment Holdings, and a neighborhood help settlement between town, developer RVA Entertainment Holdings and Richmond VA Management LLC (the entity that will function the on line casino).
In addition, this second settlement would make an agreed-upon $25.5 million fee to town from the developer if the referendum passes this 12 months, and a $1 million bonus fee from the developer after the resort on line casino financing closes.
Rejection of proposed ONE Casino+Resort in 2021:
Following the 2019 General Assembly vote to allow casinos in 5 economically distressed cities throughout the state, voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth validated casinos of their localities in 2020 referendums, additional resulting in casinos working in Bristol, Danville and Portsmouth, with one other in growth in Norfolk. But, as for Richmond, its voters rejected the proposed ONE Casino + Resort in November 2021 by a margin of 1,200 votes.
Events that led to a retry:
A second referendum on the wording of the state’s on line casino legalization invoice didn’t happen after the primary failed, permitting Petersburg to strive their proposed on line casino. However, Petersburg officers, involving state Sen. Joe Morrissey, aimed to deliver Cordish Cos.’ proposed on line casino to their metropolis and tried unsuccessfully to cross laws that will have allowed them to have a on line casino referendum as an alternative of Richmond. The failure of this invoice paved the way in which for Richmond voters to vote on the ONE Casino+Resort once more this fall.
The overwhelming majority of details about the proposed on line casino is identical because it was two years in the past, besides that Churchill Downs is now included after buying Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC (P2E) for $2.75 billion final fall. Additionally, P2E was included in a 2021 proposal for ONE Casino + Resort with Silver Spring, Maryland-based Urban One, a media firm that manages 55 radio stations and cable community TV One.
Layout of the proposed on line casino:
“The proposed ONE Casino + Resort would offer a 250-room hotel and radio, TV and film production studios and sound stages. Furthermore, it would be constructed on a 97-acre site on the city’s south side on property owned by Altria Group Inc. near Interstate 95, just as proposed in the 2021 referendum,” in accordance with Richmond Economic Development Director Leonard Sledge. As for employment alternatives, town expects the on line casino to instantly create 1,300 jobs, which might accumulate $30 million in projected native tax earnings year-on-year, in accordance with Sledge. During his presentation finally week’s Richmond City Council Organizational Development Standing Committee, Sledge mentioned that “the temporary Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol brought in $7.9 million in tax revenue since it opened in July 2022, and the Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, has yielded $4.7 million in tax revenue since its January opening.”
Supporters and opponents of the proposed on line casino:
Urban One Inc. CEO Alfred Liggins III and Joseph Quinn, Churchill Downs’ chief counsel, tried at a June 5 committee assembly to persuade metropolis councilors to provide the mission one other likelihood, a formality since six of the 9 council members function ordinance sponsors, along with Mayor Levar Stoney. However, the board’s organizing committee formally voted on June 5 to suggest approval of the three items of invoice, however one council member, Katherine Jordan, who additionally opposed the on line casino in 2021, voted towards it each finally week’s board assembly and within the full council assembly on Monday.
Additionally, few supporters of the second referendum, principally native union members who’re pushing for extra jobs, spoke all through the general public listening to section of the board assembly, with just one opponent talking up emphasizing that “the city’s voters had already made their feelings known in the first vote in 2021.” In this regard, City Councilor Reva Trammell, a staunch on line casino booster, mentioned: “It’s a referendum. Yes, we have the right to have another one.”
After Monday’s vote, the Council will subsequent petition Richmond Circuit Court to place referendum on the November poll.