During the 2021 election, Richmonders narrowly rejected the Urban One and P2E presentation, which beat out several other casino pitches through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Richmond City Council’s Casino Evaluation Panel. The Urban One\/P2E project was called ONE Casino + Resort and would have been built adjacent to the Philip Morris tobacco plant south of the city along Interstate 95.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Local leaders hope to reask voters this fall about a casino through another referendum. The thinking among city government officials is that a more concrete message about the economic benefits such a resort would bring to the capital metro will result in a different outcome.<\/p>\n
Speaking with analysts and investors, Carstanjen said it’s the company’s hope the casino question goes before voters this November. Legislative efforts from state lawmakers who don’t want a casino in Richmond, or who are trying to relocate the city’s gaming license south to nearby Petersburg, were unsuccessful during the state’s 2023 legislative session.<\/p>\n
\nWe are working through the required approvals to conduct a referendum this fall to obtain the authorization necessary to proceed with the construction of this project, which would include a casino, hotel, and events center,”<\/strong> Carstanjen said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe Churchill boss added that “everything is going well” in relation to the referendum. The goal is to hold a successful casino referendum this fall and begin construction next year.<\/p>\n
Divisive Topic<\/b><\/h2>\n
Richmond’s 2021 gaming referendum was defeated 51%-49%, with the city’s more affluent neighborhoods north of the James River more opposed to the casino question. Some residents also questioned why Urban One, a media company with no experience in the gaming or hospitality industries, managed to win out over more recognizable gaming operators such as Bally’s, The Cordish Companies, and Golden Nugget.<\/p>\n
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Urban One sought to calm such concerns by bringing on P2E, a company with a long track record in gaming. Despite its operational history in Louisiana and Iowa, P2E didn’t have much brand recognition in Virginia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Churchill Downs is a different story, as the company is a familiar name thanks to its Kentucky Derby roots. Will Richmonders be more inclined to support ONE Casino + Resort now that Churchill is involved? A referendum in November could provide that answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In February 2022, Churchill Downs Inc. agreed to purchase most of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment’s (P2E) casinos and resort assets. The nearly $2.5 billion acquisition also delivered the Kentucky-based casino and horse racetrack group the potential opportunity to construct a new, from-the-ground-up casino resort in the Virginia capital of Richmond. During Churchill’s first-quarter call Thursday morning, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":270926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,32093],"tags":[82008,82078,82453,83834,82130,84501,81995],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Churchill Downs Committed to Richmond Casino Opportunity<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n