{"id":249332,"date":"2022-12-23T01:44:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T07:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=249332"},"modified":"2022-12-23T09:12:26","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T15:12:26","slug":"norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/","title":{"rendered":"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Norfolk is one of five cities in Virginia allowed to authorize a commercial casino development. But more than two years after residents in the Hampton Roads locale voted in favor of a $500 million casino pitch from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and tribal gaming billionaire Jon Yarbrough, little work has been done at the project site.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_249336\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-249336\" data-style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-249336\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg\" alt=\"Norfolk casino HeadWaters Resort &amp; Casino Virginia\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault-858x483.jpeg 858w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault-430x242.jpeg 430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-249336\"class=\"text-description\">A vague rendering of HeadWaters Resort &amp; Casino in Norfolk, Va. The Virginia casino development has made little progress on the $500 million project more than two years after it was approved. (Image: Norfolk City Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\">The tribe and Yarbrough partnered on a development called HeadWaters Resort &amp; Casino. The waterfront hotel property on the Elizabeth River received 65% of the nearly 89K votes cast on the local referendum question asked during the November 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Virginia&#8217;s gaming law allows approved casino projects to open a temporary casino space amid the construction of the permanent resort. But in Norfolk, no provisional gaming venue has even begun to be constructed, nor has any work started on the permanent HeadWaters.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><b>Temporary Casino Plan Caused Setbacks<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Speaking with <i>WAVY-TV<\/i> this week, Norfolk City Manager Chip Filer explained what is most responsible for the Norfolk casino missteps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">While Hard Rock Bristol opened a temporary casino inside the former Bristol Mall in July, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rivers-casino-portsmouth-in-virginia-opening-january-15-2023\/\">Rivers Casino Portsmouth plans to open<\/a> its permanent casino in a little more than two weeks on January 15, the future home of HeadWaters remains a barren parking lot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">HeadWaters has been approved to be built on 13 acres of land between the Harbor Park minor league baseball stadium and the Norfolk Southern Railroad line on the banks of the Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\">I think we all wish this was a situation where we had a big open field and could start building our casino,&#8221; Filer said. &#8220;[But the] site is pretty challenging.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">HeadWaters officials initially planned to open a temporary casino inside Harbor Park in what was formerly a restaurant and gym. But after legal concerns were raised, specifically that Virginia&#8217;s 2020 commercial gaming bill only allows the creation of an interim casino at the same physical address as where the permanent casino will operate, the developers scrapped those plans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The tribe later announced that a temporary casino would be built on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-temporary-casino-planned-for-harbor-park-parking-lot\/\">parking lot where HeadWaters will one day stand<\/a>. The provisional gaming structure will be located at 200 Park Avenue &#8212; the same address as the future casino. Harbor Park is located at 150 Park Ave.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\">The location change, Filer explained, caused construction setbacks, as the developers needed to reconfigure how they would build the permanent structure on the same grounds as where the interim casino is to be erected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;[It&#8217;s] created a host of problems, from where the laydown will go, to how you&#8217;ll build the temporary casino and start construction of the permanent casino at the same time,&#8221; Filer added.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><b>$100K Yearly Maintenance Fee<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Prior to the 2020 referendum, the Norfolk City Council deemed the Pamunkey-Yarbrough partnership as its preferred casino developer. The contract is valid for five years. The HeadWaters team must pay the city $100K per year to maintain the casino development rights until the resort is built.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The tribe is also still waiting on a state-issued gaming license. That will only come once HeadWaters&#8217; temporary casino is constructed. Plans for the venue were recently submitted to the city. Planning for the permanent casino resort remains ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Norfolk is one of five cities in Virginia allowed to authorize a commercial casino development. But more than two years after residents in the Hampton Roads locale voted in favor of a $500 million casino pitch from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and tribal gaming billionaire Jon Yarbrough, little work has been done at the project [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":249336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13],"tags":[82732,82731,84222,81995],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Progress on theh Norfolk casino project called HeadWaters Resort&amp; Casino hasn&#039;t made much progress over two years after it was authorized.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Progress on theh Norfolk casino project called HeadWaters Resort&amp; Casino hasn&#039;t made much progress over two years after it was authorized.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-23T07:44:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-23T15:12:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O&#039;Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O&#039;Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/\",\"name\":\"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-23T07:44:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-23T15:12:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Progress on theh Norfolk casino project called HeadWaters Resort& Casino hasn't made much progress over two years after it was authorized.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"A vague rendering of HeadWaters Resort & Casino in Norfolk, Va. The Virginia casino development has made little progress on the $500 million project more than two years after it was approved. (Image: Norfolk City Council)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay","description":"Progress on theh Norfolk casino project called HeadWaters Resort& Casino hasn't made much progress over two years after it was authorized.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay","og_description":"Progress on theh Norfolk casino project called HeadWaters Resort& Casino hasn't made much progress over two years after it was authorized.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-12-23T07:44:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-23T15:12:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/","name":"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-12-23T07:44:07+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-23T15:12:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Progress on theh Norfolk casino project called HeadWaters Resort& Casino hasn't made much progress over two years after it was authorized.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/maxresdefault.jpeg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"A vague rendering of HeadWaters Resort & Casino in Norfolk, Va. The Virginia casino development has made little progress on the $500 million project more than two years after it was approved. (Image: Norfolk City Council)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/norfolk-casino-making-little-progress-city-manager-explains-delay\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Norfolk Casino Making Little Progress, City Manager Explains Delay"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. 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