Photo Courtesy of NewsOne
On May 20, the city of Richmond, Virginia, took one step closer to creating the country’s first Black-owned gambling complex and resort when the Resort Casino Evaluation Panel recommended the ONE Casino + Resort to move forward as the city’s preferred casino gaming operator.
Kiss Richmond reported that the ONE Casino & Resort was proposed by Urban One Inc., a Black-owned licensed casino operator in Maryland that runs media organizations across the country.
The corporation advanced into a partnership with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment to propose a $517 million casino resort in South Richmond.
The mayor of Richmond, Levar Stoney, said he agreed with the city’s Resort Casino Evaluation Panel recommendation for the luxe resort to advance in the gaming process.
“ONE Casino + Resort presents a tremendous opportunity to develop a resort casino project in Richmond,” Stoney said in a statement. “The project will create over 1,000 good-paying jobs, generate a significant amount of new revenue for the city, and establish an additional economic engine in South Richmond. I applaud the work of the Evaluation Panel in their vetting of the proposals and engaging the entire city throughout this project.”
The state of Virginia approved plans to open five casinos in majority-Black cities. Of those, Urban One was the only Black-owned entity that expressed interest in casino development, according to NewsOne.
If the ONE Casino + Resort is a go, proposal shows will include a 90,000 square feet casino, a 150-room hotel, restaurants, lounges, and a 3,000-seat entertainment venue.
Of the project, Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins said in a statement, “ONE is thrilled the Richmond casino selection committee has chosen the best project with the best location and best team to develop a world-class entertainment destination in Richmond’s Southside.”
“Urban One and our diverse group of local investors are fully committed to creating good-paying jobs with profit-sharing for employees, pathways to successful careers, and generating significant new tax revenues that can improve Richmond’s schools and fund community programs and infrastructure,” he added.
The company won over a proposal from the Cordish Companies, which a family owns that’s connected to former President Donald Trump and others within his circle.
Rev. Al Sharpton said to Liggins that, “It would seem ironic to me if they were able to benefit in a city with a large percentage of Democrats and blacks.”
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“We’re seeing a lot of companies move out of doing business with those entities that are supporting voter suppression and things that are antithetical to the interests of the community,” he added.
Stoney is expected to introduce the proposed ONE Casino + Resort project to City Council on May 24 and have a public follow-up meeting on May 25.