Posted on: October 9, 2024, 10:29h.
Last updated on: October 9, 2024, 10:40h.
Almost four years after Norfolk voters authorized the development of a commercial casino resort along the Elizabeth riverbank next to the Virginia city’s Minor League Baseball stadium, city officials have at long last signed off on the blueprint.
During its Tuesday evening meeting, the Norfolk City Council voted 7-1 in favor of moving forward with the project proposed by Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe.
The 7-1 vote approved an ordinance granting a development certificate for the construction of a resort and casino complex located at 200 Park Avenue. Construction of the estimated $500 million endeavor will still need to obtain building permits, but the council’s blessing is the final major hurdle in breaking ground.
The City Council endorsement culminates years of delays stemming from project design setbacks caused by legal concerns, and more recently, the federal, state, and city governments’ decision to invest in a 17-foot-high seawall along the Elizabeth to minimize flood risk.
Councilor Andria McClellan was the lone dissenter. A longtime opponent of the casino, McClellan took issue with the developers’ plan to allow indoor smoking.
The seven other councilors said it’s time to get construction going and begin reaping the tax and economic benefits that casinos in four other Virginia cities are delivering. The Council’s vote in favor of the gaming resort follows September approvals from the Norfolk Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission.
Norfolk Casino Backstory
Virginia lawmakers and then-Gov. Ralph Northam (D) in 2020 passed legislation allowing five cities — Richmond, Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, and Norfolk — to ask their residents to endorse a casino undertaking through a local ballot referendum. Because the small Pamunkey Indian Tribe, in partnership with gaming billionaire Jon Yarbrough, at the time was mulling a tribal casino about 60 air miles north of Norfolk in a remote area of King William County, city officials and the tribe opted to partner on a casino endeavor in the city.
Norfolk residents approved the project during the November 2020 election with 65% support. A series of setbacks subsequently ensued.
The tribe and Yarbrough first encountered issues when they planned to open a temporary casino, as permitted by the 2020 law, inside Harbor Park while construction on the permanent resort got underway at the adjacent parking lot. After it was determined that a temporary casino could only operate at the same mailing address as the permanent resort, and efforts to change the address of the ballpark caused legal issues, the developers went back to the drawing board.
A phased development approach was next floated, with the permanent casino first opening to be later followed by the resort. City officials pushed back on that plan on the grounds that a phased approach could result in less than what voters agreed upon.
Yarbrough then decided to exit the project and sell his interest to Boyd Gaming, the Las Vegas-based gaming firm that specializes in regional gaming markets. The plan was again reworked, with the previous brand HeadWaters Resort & Casino being sunk.
Boyd and the tribe subsequently presented a resort with 200 rooms and a casino floor with 1,500 slot machines, 50 live dealer table games, and a sportsbook. A temporary 7,200-square-foot pavilion tent casino will operate in the parking lot while construction occurs closer to the river where the permanent structure will stand.
The permanent resort will additionally include five restaurants and 9,500 square feet of meeting space.
Casino Roads in Hampton Roads
While Norfolk has taken nearly four years to greenlight its casino, nearby Portsmouth was the first casino in the commonwealth to open its permanent gaming floor.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened in January 2023, about 15 minutes from where the Norfolk casino will be built. The casino has 1,400 slots, 24 tables, and a BetRivers Sportsbook. The venue doesn’t offer on-site hotel or resort amenities.
