Petersburg City Council votes on casino developer

PETERSBURG, Va. (WWBT) -Petersburg City Council voted on Wednesday on a company to develop the city’s possible casino.

According to the Ward 5 representative W. Howard Myers, the council unanimously voted to pick Cordish Companies as its preferred casino developer and operator in the following statement:

“I am ecstatic about the potential transformative opportunities the Cordish Companies are to unleash,” Ward said in a statement. “The City of Petersburg has been grossly underrated and disenfranchised for decades. As a former Mayor and member of the City Council, my respect for Mayor Samuel Parham leading the team is unmatched as my successor in the drive to accomplish the greatest feats of a city broken by the color of its skin.”

Council member Marlow Jones, who represents Ward 1, said Thursday that this is a “significant milestone for Petersburg.”

“There comes a time in the governance of any city when decisions of great consequence must be made - decisions that may not always align with popular sentiment but are nonetheless critical for the advancement of our community,” Jones said in a statement. “It is in these moments that we must ground our choices in facts, in detailed analysis, and in the unyielding pursuit of what is right for our citizens, rather than being swayed by mere promises or transient trends.”

The city will begin negotiating with The Cordish Companies and prepare all documentation required for approval by the Virginia Lottery and the Court by early August.

City Council also chose to work with Cordish Companies as their developer in December 2022 before the Senate Finance Committee killed the bill in February 2023.

Voters are seemingly split on this vote to bring casino gambling to the city, but they can make their voices known on Nov. 5.

Demetrius Frazer owns Resist Booksellers in Petersburg. He also went to town halls to speak against the casino vote in 2022.

He doesn’t like how the city decided on this developer behind closed doors without any input from residents.

“I think the residents here in Petersburg wanted to have a say about the future in the city here especially with something as big as this,” Frazier said. “They had a say on input on the first round when they picked a vendor there, but as they got to this round, it seems that it was more secretive or private, and I feel like it was a miss on the city’s part.”

Councilmember Jones says that if they had not acted as soon as they did Wednesday, all efforts for this development would have been lost.

Now, with the governor’s and lawmakers’ green light, council members say they’re excited about a significant milestone that could bring more money and jobs.

“Economically, it will help,” Frazier said. “But I think that there are some ramifications that will happen that we either don’t expect or are not ready for. I’m not a big fan of casinos, in general, so gambling, elements like that are not the first place I would start.”

City leaders say if they approve it, the Destination Resort, which includes a casino, will be the most significant economic development and tourism project in Petersburg’s history.