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Published: Thursday, May 06 2021
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Written by Diversity Richmond

One of the two finalists for the casino location is on Arthur Ashe Boulevard. If this is the selected location, the casino and Diversity Richmond will be neighbors. Live! Management reached out to us to have an opportunity to share their story and allow us to ask questions or express concerns. Their contact information is included in this article.
Please note, the inclusion of this information in our newsletter is not an endorsement of the Live! Casino proposal. It is simply a means of giving the opportunity for a possible new neighbor to introduce themselves and for you, our supporters, a chance to voice your opinions.
You may also want to share your thoughts with Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney at 804-646-7970 or and Richmond City Council members at 804-646-2778 or richmondgov.com/CityCouncil/contacts.aspx
Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond – Project Overview
Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond offers the best value for the City of Richmond and for City residents. This project, located on the Movieland property adjacent to Scott’s Addition, will offer the highest economic value to the City, both in terms of good paying jobs and needed tax revenue. The Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond project has 50% Minority Ownership totaling a $180 million investment and will be contributing tens of millions of dollars each year to fund important City services.
The City faces a long list of funding needs, ranging from new schools to critical safety net programs for our most vulnerable residents to infrastructure needs. The casino will be the City’s biggest economic development project in recent memory. We cannot afford to miss out on this historic opportunity to maximize the value of the revenue this project will generate. This revenue can be used to help all Richmonders, especially our low-to-moderate income (LMI) populations who were struggling even before COVID hit and who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
The economics behind the Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond project are important, but the value for City residents goes far beyond the dollars and cents impact. This project is about equity for the minority communities in our City, many of whom struggle with poverty on a daily basis. What does equity mean for these Richmonders? First and foremost, it means reasonable public transit access to jobs and workforce development opportunities. The Live! site offers convenient public transportation access and is directly adjacent to the Pulse corridor. This project is not on an ‘island’ and isolated from the reach of the City’s primary bus routes, on which so many of our LMI residents rely as a lifeline for getting to and from work. If a project brings thousands of new, good-paying jobs, what value are those jobs if the people you want to offer them to cannot easily access the jobs?
Equity takes shape in other important ways. The Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond project offers the highest proposed worker compensation package, averaging $60,000 in wages and benefits, with no hourly employee earning less than $15 an hour. This project also can bring more than jobs, it can bring career opportunities. The Cordish Companies, one of the country’s most experienced developers and operators of casino entertainment resort destinations, will develop and operate the Live! Richmond project. Their Live! brand is one of the top entertainment brands in the country. Cordish – with decades of experience at similar projects across the country – will bring its proven workforce development programs to Richmond. These are programs that not only prepare employees for that first job, but also equip them with the skills and training that they need to grow in their careers and move on to other opportunities. For those Richmonders struggling to find that first, or right, job, this isn’t just a paycheck for next month’s rent but a real chance for a lifetime of financial security.
Finally, The Cordish Companies and the Live! brand have been consistent supporters of the LGBTQ+ community. For example, they have been a Presenting Sponsor of the Capital Pride Festival in the Nation’s Capital since 2015 and made cash contributions of $315,000 in sponsorship fees and more than $40,000 of in-kind contributions for festival’s Beverage Garden.
This project is important for Richmond and for the City’s future, and so that is why we want our leaders and residents to be in the best position to make fully-informed decisions. For more information about Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond, please visit www.richmondlive.com.