Temporary Live! casino in Petersburg, Virginia, to open in January
The venue will be replaced by the permanent Live! Casino & Hotel Resort in 2027.
US.- A temporary casino is expected to open in Petersburg, Virginia, in January 2026, ahead of the Cordish Companies’ permanent Live! Casino & Hotel Resort, which is expected to follow in 2027. The operator said it is reviewing candidates and would hire around 500 staff for the temporary venue.
The property sits on a 100-acre site off Interstate 95 in Petersburg. It will feature a 75,000-square-foot of gaming space, with 900 slots, 33 live table games, a bar and a quick-service restaurant. Initially, developers expected the temporary site to open by the end of 2025, but the licensing process is still ongoing.
Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) has agreed to acquire the real estate of the future venue, which is a joint venture between The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise. It will be the fourth Cordish property for which GLPI will own the real estate assets.
The company said that the cap rate on both the $27m land purchase and the $440m hard cost funding is 8 per cent and will be accretive to GLPI’s operating results. GLPI intends to fund the $27m land purchase with $440m of committed financing to be drawn beginning in the second half of 2026 and continuing through the first quarter of 2028, post equity funding. During the construction phase, Cordish will pay rent on the GLPI funding as drawn. After the first anniversary of the casino, rent will escalate at a rate of 1.75 per cent per annum.
