Richmond Resort & Casino

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, Icetera said:

 Given that their stated investment appears to have dropped $40 million since being selected (according to the article), I would not be surprised if they scaled back the tower some.  It is not like they do not have plenty of land to spread it across so less floors would be better cost-wise.

Yeah, but the tower will give them visibility from I-95.  In fact, the taller the tower is, the better (I would think).  I read an article yesterday in the RTD that said that their tower will be no less than 12 stories tall. If they only build at 12 stories then they’ve scaled back to the very bare minimum and we’ll know it. Was hopeful when I saw that they could expand to up to 600 rooms, but that was probably very over inflated in an effort to win the bid. Interestingly enough, 600 rooms is very small compared to hotel casinos in Vegas, which can go as high as 5,000 rooms!

[vaceltic]

19 hours ago, eandslee said:

Yeah, but the tower will give them visibility from I-95.  In fact, the taller the tower is, the better (I would think).  I read an article yesterday in the RTD that said that their tower will be no less than 12 stories tall. If they only build at 12 stories then they’ve scaled back to the very bare minimum and we’ll know it. Was hopeful when I saw that they could expand to up to 600 rooms, but that was probably very over inflated in an effort to win the bid. Interestingly enough, 600 rooms is very small compared to hotel casinos in Vegas, which can go as high as 5,000 rooms!

They are going to be billbording the heck out of I-95 coming from the south. I would guess at a volume on par with “South of the Border” signs going into South Carolina, but with less witty puns.

[Hike]

Style calling shenanigans and compares the state election campaign process to the Cayman Islands..

https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/commentary-welcome-to-the-caymans/Content?oid=17489699

Edited June 1, 2021 by Hike

[wrldcoupe4]

Did investors from other proposals make any political donations to the city council / mayor?

I’ll just add I think we can all agree on the need for campaign finance reform. 

[whw53]

the council members I didnt think were involved in the selection process directly, wasnt there an independent commission? What actions by the council members are they criticizing?

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[Hike]

1 hour ago, whw53 said:

the council members I didnt think were involved in the selection process directly, wasnt there an independent commission? What actions by the council members are they criticizing?

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I think the opinion is mostly about the donations and that could have played a part in being the selected proposal.

[Brent114]

Yawn.  

[Hike]

From the Richmond Free Press, found on RVA Reddit, the casino, if approved, has been delayed by the developer to late 2024 and the hotel to late 2025, was supposed to be completed in Dec. 2023    http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2021/jul/08/not-so-fast/

Also some useful information from the comments here

https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/ogvn9k/not_so_fast_richmond_city_council_informed_that/

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Hike

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Hike said:

From the Richmond Free Press, found on RVA Reddit, the casino, if approved, has been delayed by the developer to late 2024 and the hotel to late 2025, was supposed to be completed in Dec. 2023    http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2021/jul/08/not-so-fast/

Also some useful information from the comments here

https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/ogvn9k/not_so_fast_richmond_city_council_informed_that/

 

Jesus...  (where's the face-palm emoji on here?)

So now... what's the over/under that this project never happens?

[Hike]

52 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Jesus...  (where's the face-palm emoji on here?)

So now... what's the over/under that this project never happens?

Yeah, really.  If I understand correctly, the delay is due to UrbanOne not wanting to fully invest too much capital until after its approved by the state. The state has up to a year to review before approving, and that review process doesn't start until after the,  if approved, referendum in November 2021.  UrbanOne is concerned they could invest and then the state doesn't approve, so they're waiting to "start" until after approval, which will slow down the timeline.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Hike

[Icetera]

35 minutes ago, Hike said:

Yeah, really.  If I understand correctly, the delay is due to UrbanOne not wanting to fully invest too much capital until after its approved by the state. The state has up to a year to review before approving, and that review process doesn't start until after the,  if approved, referendum in November 2021.  UrbanOne is concerned they could invest and then the state doesn't approve, so they're waiting to "start" until after approval, which will slow down the timeline.

I certainly cannot fault them for that.

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, Hike said:

Yeah, really.  If I understand correctly, the delay is due to UrbanOne not wanting to fully invest too much capital until after its approved by the state. The state has up to a year to review before approving, and that review process doesn't start until after the,  if approved, referendum in November 2021.  UrbanOne is concerned they could invest and then the state doesn't approve, so they're waiting to "start" until after approval, which will slow down the timeline.

I don’t get it…I thought the final approval lies in the hands of the voters in November.  Why is there another state approval after that?!?  This is stupid!

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

I don’t get it…I thought the final approval lies in the hands of the voters in November.  Why is there another state approval after that?!?  This is stupid!

I don't get it either. Was this fact known publicly during the entire selection process? How did we miss this?

[Hike]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

I don’t get it…I thought the final approval lies in the hands of the voters in November.  Why is there another state approval after that?!?  This is stupid!

It's like a Christmas present wrapped and under the tree.  The state can't open it until Christmas (after referendum), then,  once they get it,  they get to play with it for a year.  No peeking or preliminary looking,  they have to wait. 

It does seem like they could do some of this now, why wait,  to not waste time in case it's not approved?

Edited July 10, 2021 by Hike

[wrldcoupe4]

Sounds like miscommunication versus a bait and switch. The state’s process has not been a secret. 

[Hike]

7 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Sounds like miscommunication versus a bait and switch. The state’s process has not been a secret. 

UrbanOne changed their terms to start after final state approval and are paying an additional 1 million up front to delay.

[123fakestreet]

17 hours ago, Icetera said:

I certainly cannot fault them for that.

Agree except they knew this going in, it was a transparent process. So they lied/misled the city (which is very interested in getting this project started asap and even offered an incentive to do so) until they were selected, then announced the delay. Not off to a good start for them. Wish the city would use this to reopen the bid process, but they won't.

Edited July 10, 2021 by 123fakestreet

[I miss RVA]

4 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

Agree except they knew this going in, it was a transparent process. So they lied/misled the city (which is very interested in getting this project started asap and even offered an incentive to do so) until they were selected, then announced the delay. Not off to a good start for them. Wish the city would use this to reopen the bid process, but they won't.

How transparent, though? And was the requirement of state approval post-selection (post-referrendum even?) publicly known?

[DowntownCoruscant]

As I understand it, transparent and public enough that the attorney for any prospective casino operator could just flip open the Code of Virginia to determine the process.

[I miss RVA]

Hot off the presses - sponsored content regarding the proposed casino. This must be the casino's sales pitch to Richmond voters. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

https://richmond.com/brandavestudios/sponsored/a-proposed-560-million-entertainment-destination-in-richmond-promises-jobs-tax-revenue-and-more/article_71797caa-0af3-5061-9cff-5bfd035e2b38.html?utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by I miss RVA

[whw53]

So what do we think - is this venture gonna pass in the upcoming vote?

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[123fakestreet]

5 minutes ago, whw53 said:

So what do we think - is this venture gonna pass in the upcoming vote?

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I think its going to sail through. 

My question is whether it's going to live up to it's promises. They haven't even gotten approval and have already backslid on the timeline the city preferred.  I would not be surprised to see them do the same on the concert venue and hotel, either reducing capacity, extensive delay, or cancelling altogether.  And that's just the construction, I question how successful the whole venture may end up being just because if the lack of experience of ONE and the "least common denominator" attitude of their gaming partner Peninsula.   Not trying to bring in a race debate but ONE are the ones pushing the whole "black owned" angle and the casino will seemingly be run to mostly appeal to a black audience like the rest of ONE's business ventures.   I have no problem with that but I just question the business sense of narrowing your primary audience to 12% of the population, an outsized portion of whom are low income.  Radio and TV are free, but casinos need people with plenty of discretionary income.  If you're on the strip in Vegas that's a way to differentiate your product and find a niche, but when you're the only game in town it would seem to make poor business sense.  I guess we'll see.

I would have loved to have seen a big time gaming company set up a high end casino on the riverfront in Manchester, but that didn't happen.  Largely due to the lack of vision by city council and the cowardly path of least resistance they always opt to take. I hope ONE does well, but I have doubts.

[CitiWalker]

2 hours ago, 123fakestreet said:

I think its going to sail through. 

My question is whether it's going to live up to it's promises. They haven't even gotten approval and have already backslid on the timeline the city preferred.  I would not be surprised to see them do the same on the concert venue and hotel, either reducing capacity, extensive delay, or cancelling altogether.  And that's just the construction, I question how successful the whole venture may end up being just because if the lack of experience of ONE and the "least common denominator" attitude of their gaming partner Peninsula.   Not trying to bring in a race debate but ONE are the ones pushing the whole "black owned" angle and the casino will seemingly be run to mostly appeal to a black audience like the rest of ONE's business ventures.   I have no problem with that but I just question the business sense of narrowing your primary audience to 12% of the population, an outsized portion of whom are low income.  Radio and TV are free, but casinos need people with plenty of discretionary income.  If you're on the strip in Vegas that's a way to differentiate your product and find a niche, but when you're the only game in town it would seem to make poor business sense.  I guess we'll see.

I would have loved to have seen a big time gaming company set up a high end casino on the riverfront in Manchester, but that didn't happen.  Largely due to the lack of vision by city council and the cowardly path of least resistance they always opt to take. I hope ONE does well, but I have doubts.

A lot has to do with getting a gaming license through the state after the November vote. A nine month delay is not too unreasonable given a shortage of construction workers and supplies.  It is funny to me how people would even consider Urban One or any sound business organization modeling their profits based on the income of a  low income audience. That just is not a sustainable business model. Most of the revenue will be outside revenue. Guess what Urban one has the media fire power to get those outside customers. All black folk are not broke and not just black folk listen to their over  57 radio stations. Sometimes people don't understand processes and politics.  We all want the project yesterday but it is a process. If the project is built which I strongly believe it will, Urban One has too much media  power and resources to promote the heck out of its own casino. I mean unlimited promotion ability 24-7 around the clock all year long. They may not be so called experts at casinos ( that why you partner with someone who is) but they are masters at media and promotion. 

[ancientcarpenter]

Can someone help me understand the casino situation we are in now?

If we vote yes, we will receive a lot of tax benefits for the city. No doubt about that. 

How does the casino being there affect the "pending" Pamunkey casino?

The city wouldn't be receiving any taxes from the Pamunkey casino, right?

Is Pamunkey less likely to build a casino if the One casino goes through? 

 

Is this a correct assumption: If One casino is built, we receive tax benefits and there is a chance that Pamunkey may not build their casino? If there is no One casino, the Pamunkey build their casino and the city receive no tax benefits? Seems to me that we are getting a casino in that area regardless, we might as well vote yes to One casino so that we get tax benefits for the city?

Edited September 30, 2021 by ancientcarpenter

[wrldcoupe4]

Is the Pamunkey really pending? Assumed it was dead for now.