VIRGINIA BEACH — Bruce Smith rolled the dice — and won.
The pro football Hall of Famer and Virginia Beach developer was selected with partner The Cordish Companies to build a casino in Petersburg .
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Smith said by phone Thursday afternoon. “I’m so excited about this opportunity.”
Petersburg residents will still have to vote on whether to allow gaming through a referendum on the November ballot. If approved, the casino project will be the largest economic development and tourism project in Petersburg history.
Four other companies — Bally’s Corp., Penn Entertainment, Rush Street Gaming (which operates the Rivers Casino Portsmouth) and The Warrenton Group — also vied for the opportunity. The Petersburg City Council made the decision Wednesday night, according to a city spokesperson.
In March, the General Assembly approved a bill which will allow Petersburg to host a casino, the fifth in the state. Petersburg invited developers earlier this year to bid on a project that would include a casino, hotel, event center and more.
Smith and Cordish Companies have proposed a project on a 90-acre site at the intersection of Wagner Road and Interstate 95, south of Richmond. Smith said the plan is similar to a proposal Cordish pitched in 2022 .
In addition to the casino, the project will include a 200-room hotel, an entertainment venue and several restaurants including spaces reserved for local Petersburg businesses.
Virginia law requires that the city submit its preferred gaming operator to the Virginia Lottery Board for review.
Smith, 60, became passionate about generating tax revenue and bringing more job opportunities to Petersburg after he and several other Hall of Famers visited schools there last fall and met at-risk children, he told The Virginian-Pilot earlier this month.
“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. We really want to make a difference in those folks lives.”
The Cordish Companies, based in Baltimore, completed a redevelopment of Norfolk’s Waterside District in 2017. The company was unsuccessful in a bid for the right to develop a casino there. The firm operates four casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
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