Headwaters Resort & Casino (Proposed)

[carolinaboy]

Who is building the casino in Danville? Who is building (maybe) the casiNO in NOrfolk? 

[mintscraft56]

3 hours ago, carolinaboy said:

Who is building the casino in Danville? Who is building (maybe) the casiNO in NOrfolk? 

Whats up with all the "NO" in that

On another note. Our casino is what it is. Lets just thank them that it wasent downgraded to a 7/11 with a few gambling machines stuffed in the corner. All those open lots in downtown and harbor park area make me wince when I see them. Im more obsessed about getting a building boom. Either way though lets try not to be negative going fourth in Norfolks try at getting a casino. We may have a history of disappointing project turnouts *Cough Cough granby tower*. But we must hope that it happens rather than bet it will be denied or cancelled.  

Edited October 29, 2021 by mintscraft56

[mintscraft56]

"Denial is the root of failure."  "Embrace what you yearn for its chance at reality"

Edited October 29, 2021 by mintscraft56

[BFG]

Looks like Richmond voted No to a casino. Could be good for local tourism.

[vdogg]

9 hours ago, BFG said:

Looks like Richmond voted No to a casino. Could be good for local tourism.

Ouch, did not see that coming…

7 hours ago, NFKjeff said:

It looks like construction may be ramping up. Suffolk Construction (Boston, MA) who built the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fl. was awarded construction contract and will partner with WM Jordan. 

They are hosting a video outreach to local construction companies on Wed. 11/17 from 11:00-12:30. If interested here is the link...  https://events.blackbirdrsvp.com/headwaters-casino-resort-virtual-meet-greet

Hopefully not. With the Richmond news hopefully they’ll go back to the drawing board and opt for a bigger project. I say double the size now.

[vdogg]

What’s the possibility of Norfolk putting this on hold, and re-opening the bidding process to some of these other players that now cannot build a casino in Richmond? They clearly want to spend far more money than the Pamunkey do, at the very least competition should get the Pamunkey to bring more to the table. Do we have any wiggle room in the contract to do this?

[Icetera]

1 hour ago, vdogg said:

What’s the possibility of Norfolk putting this on hold, and re-opening the bidding process to some of these other players that now cannot build a casino in Richmond? They clearly want to spend far more money than the Pamunkey do, at the very least competition should get the Pamunkey to bring more to the table. Do we have any wiggle room in the contract to do this?

From my understanding, the referendum, per State rules, required the vote on operator and location.  Since it has already passed I do not believe there is any room to reopen bidding.  It would be nice to see Pamunkey up the scale on their project after Richmond's embarrassment.

[Kevin Cheph Randall]

8 hours ago, Icetera said:

From my understanding, the referendum, per State rules, required the vote on operator and location.  Since it has already passed I do not believe there is any room to reopen bidding.  It would be nice to see Pamunkey up the scale on their project after Richmond's embarrassment.

Didn't the state law allow for casinos in 5 VA cities. Richmond still can have a Casino and I believe Pamunkey owns land in Richmond already, so in theory Pamunkey may still be able to build in Richmond? Maybe? Or would it be another referendum? 

[vdogg]

10 hours ago, Kevin Cheph Randall said:

Didn't the state law allow for casinos in 5 VA cities. Richmond still can have a Casino and I believe Pamunkey owns land in Richmond already, so in theory Pamunkey may still be able to build in Richmond? Maybe? Or would it be another referendum? 

All that was contingent on the referendum passing. I think they can have another go at it and try again, but I'm sensing no such appetite from Richmond city officials.

[Icetera]

11 hours ago, Kevin Cheph Randall said:

Didn't the state law allow for casinos in 5 VA cities. Richmond still can have a Casino and I believe Pamunkey owns land in Richmond already, so in theory Pamunkey may still be able to build in Richmond? Maybe? Or would it be another referendum? 

Pamunkey could potentially go the federal route but is it really worth it?  Without a competing casino in Richmond and with future planned Amtrak improvements, Richmonders will be more likely to travel to Norfolk anyway.  All four Richmond area stations will have a nice direct stop at Headwaters.

[Kevin Cheph Randall]

14 minutes ago, Icetera said:

Pamunkey could potentially go the federal route but is it really worth it?  Without a competing casino in Richmond and with future planned Amtrak improvements, Richmonders will be more likely to travel to Norfolk anyway.  All four Richmond area stations will have a nice direct stop at Headwaters.

But Richmond is still allowed to have a casino in fact it's the only location left, it maybe worth going the federal route so a referendum isn't needed. But this is only a theory so you could very well be right. 

[Icetera]

Just now, Kevin Cheph Randall said:

But Richmond is still allowed to have a casino in fact it's the only location left, it maybe worth going the federal route so a referendum isn't needed. But this is only a theory so you could very well be right. 

I think Richmond was technically given allowance to have a referendum to decide if we could have a casino.  We had the referendum so I am not sure we can have another one.  At this point, if any new allowances are made, I expect it would be for Petersburg.

[vdogg]

It's fairly ambiguous, but there is nothing preventing Richmond from holding another referendum. The city will have to petition the court to do so however.

 

[vdogg]

https://www.wavy.com/news/virginia/richmond/voters-rejection-of-richmond-casino-means-good-things-for-norfolk-portsmouth-economists-say/

"In statements made by Richmond’s mayor and the proposed casino developer on Wednesday, the words “extreme disappointment” and “opportunity lost” were used. However, if you travel slightly southeast to Hampton Roads, an economist used the words “good news” to describe the outcome, especially for the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

“The proposed casino in Richmond would have essentially blocked traffic from Richmond and northern Virginia from coming down to the casinos in Norfolk and Portsmouth,” said Robert McNab, professor of economics at Old Dominion University."

Now, Hampton Roads working together can market for visitors to come to the region from Richmond and northern Virginia,” McNab said. “We should see people from Richmond that would have otherwise gone to the Richmond casino."

Have to laugh at this last little part. Hampton Roads working together? We'll see...

[mintscraft56]

5 hours ago, vdogg said:

https://www.wavy.com/news/virginia/richmond/voters-rejection-of-richmond-casino-means-good-things-for-norfolk-portsmouth-economists-say/

"In statements made by Richmond’s mayor and the proposed casino developer on Wednesday, the words “extreme disappointment” and “opportunity lost” were used. However, if you travel slightly southeast to Hampton Roads, an economist used the words “good news” to describe the outcome, especially for the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

“The proposed casino in Richmond would have essentially blocked traffic from Richmond and northern Virginia from coming down to the casinos in Norfolk and Portsmouth,” said Robert McNab, professor of economics at Old Dominion University."

Now, Hampton Roads working together can market for visitors to come to the region from Richmond and northern Virginia,” McNab said. “We should see people from Richmond that would have otherwise gone to the Richmond casino."

Have to laugh at this last little part. Hampton Roads working together? We'll see...

I can see Norfolk and Portsmouth Working together saying our cities are close in brotherhood. 

[vdogg]

2 hours ago, NFKjeff said:

I watched the zoom meeting yesterday hosted by WM Jordan and Suffolk Const. Total sq. footage will be about 1.2 million, gaming floor sq. footage will be about 100,000. The parking deck will be 10 levels. Hotel is 300 keys. Expected groundbreaking (pending VA Lottery licensing) is second quarter of 2022.

The Parking deck is 10 levels? With the hotel on top that puts us around 18-19 floors correct?

So, double checking the renderings, it'll have the presence (and floor count) of a 19-20 story building. It's pretty wide though so it won't look tall, but not as terrible as I expected.

[vdogg]

300 keys is slightly more than 275, so we may have gained a floor.

[SuffolkWahoo]

22 hours ago, NFKjeff said:

From the renderings it doesn't look like the hotel is being built atop the parking deck, but it is elevated to be above the top level of the deck. I'm not sure whether this will increase the overall height of the finished product.

I think you are correct.  Parking seems to be beside the hotel persay.

[vdogg]

For a casino supposedly breaking ground in spring, I'm astonished that no information has been released in months. Their media presence is non-existent. No commercials, no flyers, no updates, nothing... This sure doesn't seem to be something that's close to construction. Literally every other casino in Virginia has put out multiple updates. I've scoured the internet and the last update I can find from the developer of any consequence came out in November.

[BeagleAccountant]

1 hour ago, vdogg said:

For a casino supposedly breaking ground in spring, I'm astonished that no information has been released in months. Their media presence is non-existent. No commercials, no flyers, no updates, nothing... This sure doesn't seem to be something that's close to construction. Literally every other casino in Virginia has put out multiple updates. I've scoured the internet and the last update I can find from the developer of any consequence came out in November.

To be fair to the Pamunkey and HeadWaters, they are the only brand new casino operation. All the others operate casinos in other states and have a complete staff in place for public relations.  They’ll be off and running in due time.

By the way, I found this WM Jordan outreach event where they are hosting local contractors later this month.

https://www.wmjordan.com/join-w-m-jordan-company-and-suffolk-construction-for-our-second-headwaters-resort-casino-virtual-outreach-meeting/?fbclid=IwAR2Ri_4UKTQAszSJkiaIG_wqE4FdQdwdqNZvK8VXSiXNCjKpkCM6XFkFku4

Edited February 8, 2022 by BeagleAccountant
Grammar

[zeppelin14]

Just the fact that Norfolk and VB has a long history of projects falling through, we are all just skeptical of this casino happening until construction begins. Hell, even when construction does begin, we are still skeptical until completion (see Granby Tower). We have been burned before.

[EJ_LEWIS]

I'm less excited about the casino every passing day that there is no ground breaking.  I guess I'm just preparing for the possibility that it will never really get built.  

[BeagleAccountant]

1 hour ago, EJ_LEWIS said:

I'm less excited about the casino every passing day that there is no ground breaking.  I guess I'm just preparing for the possibility that it will never really get built.  

There's way too much money on the line for this not to happen. 

[BFG]

As much as the anti-casino groups would love to see that happen, I can’t see one of the most anticipated projects of the last 10 years falling through at the 11th hour. 

[EJ_LEWIS]

16 hours ago, BeagleAccountant said:

There's way too much money on the line for this not to happen. 

I hope you are right.