Virginia: Bristol city chooses Hard Rock as preferred casino operator

Bristol Virginia City Council will meet in called session this morning to amend its casino operator resolution and add the newly created entity that would oversee the operation. The council is scheduled to have an 8 a.m. meeting at City Hall to amend the resolution it passed Tuesday when it unanimously selected Hard Rock International, The United Co. and Par Ventures as the city’s preferred casino operator. It will add to the list H.R. Bristol, LLC, which includes the three firms.

State legislation to allow casinos by referendum requires each of five named cities to formally select a preferred casino operator. The cities must then submit that operator, its financial information and its casino operating plan to the Virginia Lottery Board for a pre-qualifying review.

“H.R. Bristol, LLC, was formed Tuesday. Through conversations with the Lottery Board, United’s attorneys and Hard Rock’s attorneys on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was determined that resolution needed to include H.R. Bristol, LLC, because it will technically be the operator — even though it is a combination of the other three,” City Manager Randy Eads said Thursday, Bristol Herald Courier reports.

They jointly are proposing to establish and operate a $300 million casino resort with hotel, dining, entertainment and shopping amenities at the vacant Bristol Mall, 500 Gate City Highway.

The H.R. Bristol name was revealed in the 307-page master plan that Hard Rock and the local partners previously submitted to the city, but, at that time, the entity hadn’t been formed. “H.R. Bristol, LLC, has no debt and no cash, but it will be the other three that are backing it, but that’s what the Lottery Board told us we needed to do yesterday. I’d rather be right on the front end,” Eads said.

The city intends to make its submission next week, Eads said. Once submitted, the Lottery Board has 45 days to complete its review and approve or reject the proposal. If approved there, the council would be asked to approve a resolution in July or August asking the Circuit Court to order the referendum in November the city’s Nov. 3 general election ballot, and naming the Hard Rock group as the proposed casino operators.

“This is an historic step; it’s a big step,” Mayor Neal Osborne said after Tuesday’s meeting. “At this point, we’re just waiting on the state lottery board, then we’re going to [have a] referendum in November. It’s a giant step. Not only will it help our budget with tax revenue, but it will change the quality of life and the face of the city completely.”

The project is forecast to create 2,000 new jobs with combined annual wages of $90 million and expected to generate between $15 million and $20 million annually for the city in tax revenues in addition to the city’s share of gaming tax revenue.

During his presentation Tuesday, Sean Caffery, Hard Rock’s senior vice president of casino and business development, revealed some specific details about the project. They plan to begin by erecting a 300-room hotel with a spa, fitness center and swimming pool. The hotel could be expanded up to 750 rooms depending on demand. The hotel is depicted on a site plan on the southeast side of the property adjacent to the former Sears store and facing Gate City Highway.

The casino, which is depicted in part of the former Sears store and extending into the former mall, is programmed to initially include 1,500 slot machines and may be expanded up to 2,700. Plans call for 100 table games and a sportsbook area.

The entire complex would include seven restaurants — including barbecue and steak options — four bars, 30,000 square feet of retail shopping, 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, a 3,200-seat indoor entertainment venue and capacity for 20,000 people outdoors when weather allows. The outdoor music venue is depicted on the west side of the mall property — near the former cafeteria entrance — which abuts a large, wooded area.