American casino operator The Cordish Companies has announced that it has secured some $180 million in funding from local minority-run businesses in order to help realize its proposed Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond development.

The Baltimore-headquartered firm used an official Wednesday press release to detail that it has also committed to offering minority entities a 50% ownership stake in the envisioned central Virginia project along with a 40% involvement in all associated construction activities.

Progressive program:

The Cordish Companies, which is already responsible for Baltimore’s Live! Casino and Hotel Maryland venue, recently opened its new Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia property under a similar scheme and declared that it intends to present ‘additional investment opportunities’ to minority-owned enterprises across the region who may want ‘to participate in the project’. It moreover stated that these could further assist the proposed $600 million Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond venture in receiving the required local regulatory approvals before opening sometime in 2023.

Liability likelihood:

Zed Smith serves as the Chief Operating Officer for The Cordish Companies and he used the press release to describe the commitment to his firm’s proposed Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond project as ‘one of the largest, if not the largest, minority equity investments in the history of Virginia’. He also proclaimed that the envisioned scheme is destined to ‘carry half the debt of the competing proposal’ from rival runner Urban One and feature ‘a combined $360 million of equity investment’.

Read a statement from Smith…

“We are incredibly proud to announce this historic achievement today of $180 million of direct minority investment in Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond. Our team of minority equity partners represents a dynamic group of locally-based and nationally-recognized investors who share our passion and commitment to excellence and being a good community partner.”

Substantial scheme:

The Cordish Companies explained that it wants to bring its Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond facility to a 17-acre site to the north of the capital community complete with a 300-room hotel and a 250,000 sq ft casino offering a wide variety of slots and gaming tables. It divulged that the proposed project, which would furthermore feature a cinema, a spa and wellness center, up to 18 dining and entertainment venues and a 4,000-seat live music space, would be easily accessible and sit ‘closer to the vast majority of the Richmond regional population’ than the contending endeavour from Urban One.

Pronounced patronage:

Finally, The Cordish Companies disclosed that the minority partners that have recently come on board to support the realization of its Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond project encompass ‘prominent Virginians and Richmonders, former professional athletes and nationally-recognized investors’ that will help in positioning its bid ‘as the strongest financial partner for the city of Richmond’.