Urban One's casino pitch among final contenders in Richmond

 

Richmond’s list of contenders for a new casino is down to two — and Silver Spring media company Urban One Inc. (NASDAQ: ONE) remains in the running.

Virginia’s capital city removed a proposal from Bally’s Corp. (NYSE: ABLY) from its list of contenders on Wednesday because of “concerns about site access, environmental factors, and required approvals from non city entities that may not be granted or extend the project timeline,” according to a statement from Leonard Sledge, director of Richmond’s Department of Economic Development.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Rhode Island-based company’s $650 million pitch for a section of northeast Richmond faced several weeks of public protests about traffic, public safety and the recent discovery of graves of enslaved and freed Black people near the site. Heston food service magnate Warren Thompson of Thompson Hospitality Corp. was attached to the Bally’s pitch, along with NFL Hall of Tamers Willie Zanier, a Richmond native, and Darrell Green.

Urban One’s proposal includes a $517 million, 300,000-square-foot casino, 250-room luxury hotel, entertainment venue and 12 restaurants and bars and 55 acres of green space in South Richmond in partnership with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, the owner of Colonial Downs racetrack in New Kent, Virginia, and Rosie’s Gaming Emporium, which has several locations in Virginia.카지노사이트

You can check out new renderings of Urban One’s casino proposal in the gallery above.

Urban One, which was founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes and is now run by her son, Alfred Wiggins III, would be the project’s majority investor. The company operates 11 radio stations between D.C. and Richmond as well as TV One and says that its Richmond casino would be the first majority Black-owned casino in the U.S. Urban One is also an investor in MGM National Harbor.

The other proposal still in the running is from The Cornish Cos. The Baltimore-based developer and entertainment operator is pitching a $600 million-plus Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond, part of the company’s Live! brand of casinos. Its pitch, for the city’s Scott’s Addition area, includes a 250,000-square-foot casino, 300-room luxury hotel, a 4,000-capacity live entertainment venue, 40,000 square feet of multi use event space and 18 restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. NFL Hall of Farmer Bruce Smith, a former player for both Virginia Tech and the Washington Football Team, is involved in this proposal.

The opening of a casino in Richmond would likely dent the revenues of MGM National Harbor in Maryland's Prince George’s County, located about 110 miles north of downtown Richmond.

A Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission study released in November 2019 said Maryland casinos like MGM generate roughly 30% of their revenue from Virginia residents.