While Richmond is no longer pursuing a casino, City Council is not giving up on the would-have-been location as a potential community asset and economic development site for the Southside.
Council is introducing legislation today to declare a public necessity for and authorize the city to purchase 96 acres off Walmsley Boulevard that was the site of the proposed casino and resort that voters twice rejected in separate referendums.
The city would pay property owner Philip Morris USA $5.5 million for the site, where it plans to create a new public park, extend Walmsley Boulevard from Commerce Road to Richmond Highway, and develop an economic development site “for commercial and civic growth with a workforce development component,” according to the ordinance.
The $5.5 million is part of $10 million that council set aside in this year’s budget specifically to advance economic development in South Richmond in the wake of the casino plan, President Kristen Nye said.
Kristen Nye
“When the casino failed, it was a council discussion that we just make sure we don’t lose sight of economic development in the Southside,” Nye said, noting that growth south of the river was a primary reason that councilmembers supported the casino project.
“The plan, with or without the casino, was always to have a park, walking trails – really develop that land so it’s accessible and create an amenity for the community around there,” Nye said.
The General Assembly in 2020 adopted legislation allowing Richmond and four other localities in Virginia to host voter-approved casinos, leading to the initial referendum held for Richmond the following year. While referendums in the other localities — Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth and Norfolk — passed in landslides in 2020, city voters rejected Richmond’s in 2021 with 51.4 percent voting against it.
A second referendum held last year was defeated by a wider margin, despite the addition of Kentucky Derby owner Churchill Downs, which became involved in the project with developer Urban One after purchasing Colonial Downs and Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums from Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, Urban One’s partner on the initial One Casino + Resort plan.
Urban One’s proposed casino and resort was pitched for the Philip Morris-owned land just off Interstate 95. (BizSense file)
The proposal comes as the city has been investing in real estate of late, such as its planned $2 million purchase of a Cary Street building for a new pet adoption center for Richmond Animal Care & Control. However Nye reiterated that the funds for the Southside site purchase were worked into the budget strategically for such an investment.
“This was a very intentional thing that council did during the budget process, just to say we want economic development in the Southside in places where it’s needed, and we want to have control of it,” Nye said.
Aside from the $5.5 million to be used to purchase the Phillip Morris-owned property at 4700 Trenton Ave. and a portion of 2001 Walmsley Blvd., Nye said it is to be determined how the rest of the $10 million would be used.
Nye said the investment to secure and position the site as an economic development opportunity is a new strategy for Richmond, though it’s an approach used by other municipalities.
“Other localities have been doing this a long time,” she said. “I think this is a very thoughtful way of spending our money, because if we bring in some really cool opportunity that provides jobs but also provides a front-facing business for the community down there…that could be a huge economic win where the $5.5 million we’re investing could be multiplied very quickly.”
Council will introduce the legislation in a special meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. today. Council would vote on the ordinance at a subsequent meeting, with opportunity for citizen input in a public hearing.
The Walmsley site is just south of the Philip Morris Manufacturing Center complex along Commerce Road and Interstate 95. Parent company Altria Group, which is in talks about a potential sale of its Center for Research and Technology building downtown to Virginia Commonwealth University, has said it would likely construct a new facility at the Commerce Road complex if a deal with VCU goes forward.