A long-planned Norfolk casino project is closer than ever to beginning construction, as the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Boyd Gaming are moving through the city’s regulatory process.
The advancements include some major changes. Development leaders said they have dropped a former financial backer and confirmed plans to install a temporary casino at the site to meet a deadline.
Pamunkey Indian Tribe Chief Robert Gray and Boyd Gaming Executive Vice President Uri Clinton discussed the changes in an interview Wednesday.
Jon Yarbrough, the Tennessee billionaire who originally created the company that oversees the casino development, is no longer involved with the project, Gray said. He is being replaced by Boyd as the majority owner of that company, Golden Eagle Consulting, said project spokesperson Jay Smith. The tribe also will have a 20% equity interest, according to city documents.
Gray said it was always the tribe’s intent to find a professional management team for the Norfolk project, and said they had met with several companies.
“Yes, we’ve had some challenges over the last few years,” Gray said. The project has encountered various delays and changes in scope since being announced in 2018. He said Boyd, a Nevada gaming operator with 28 locations in 12 states, shared the values and the vision for the development.
“We understand this marketplace,” Clinton, who is also Boyd’s general counsel and corporate secretary, said. “We understand how to be really good partners.”
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Clinton also confirmed plans to construct a temporary casino on the property in order to meet a deadline while the permanent location is being built. In order to meet a deadline for obtaining a gaming license by November 2025, Boyd plans to construct the temporary casino on the property starting in February 2025 and opening in November 2025, according to a project timeline submitted with city documents.
“It is truly transitional, temporary in nature,” Clinton said.
According to the timeline, the permanent casino would begin construction in January 2025 and open in September 2027. Current plans include a casino floor with 1,500 slots and 50 table games, a 200-room hotel, eight restaurants and a parking deck with more than 1,000 spaces, according to the project website.
Clinton said Boyd would spend around $500 million on the project.
Gray hoped the casino project would benefit both Norfolk and the Pamunkey Tribe. He said casino revenues would help the tribe with medical care, housing and education. The tribe was federally recognized in 2016 and has a reservation in King William County.
“The tribe wants to care for its own people, and we see this opportunity to empower our citizens,” Gray said.
Norfolk voters approved the casino development in a 2020 referendum. On Wednesday, Norfolk City Council members approved a series of votes making Boyd the project lead. The City Council still needs to approve a development certificate for the project.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
