The inhabitants of the city of Danville have passed a referendum to open a Caesars casino in the area and thereby giving the nod to a well-established casino gaming setup for the fans, stated a report. With a majority of 13,022 ballot votes favoring the gaming establishment. The favored margin witnessed a more than two-to-one sweep against the 5,941 votes standing against the project.
The new casino gaming hub will be designed at the former Dan River Mills industrial complex located in the Schoolfield domain. As per the report, the results are incomplete as the ballots will not be counted until Wednesday. The voters who failed to cast their votes earlier can participate in the mail-in ballots until Friday noon for counting. There was a special election to choose a deserving candidate for a seat in the City Council. The report suggested that Bryant Hood was ahead of his competitor Fred Shanks by 89 votes.
Earlier in September, Caesars Entertainment and Danville City entered into a development agreement to set up a lavish resort casino at the site. The agreement highlighted the outline of the features that Caesars Virginia will provide in the casino in Danville after the passing of the referendum by the citizens.
The Important Parts of the Agreement
- Design a resort cum casino with a minimum investment of USD 400 million. The entity will include various restaurants, a hotel with over 300 4-star rooms, bars, a conference center of 35,000 sq. ft., a venue for live entertainment with a 2500 seating capacity, a spa, and a pool.
- The resort is likely to be opened in 2023 for people.
- Employ 1,300 full-time employees for $15/hour as the minimum wage.
- Create 900 jobs for construction workers.
- In 30 days of passing of the ballot, the firm will give USD 15M to Danville City.
- Give at least $5 million as gaming tax revenue every year.
- Offer an additional annual fee as a direct payment to the city in proportion to the net gaming revenue percentage.
Caesars provided the estimates, which were further evaluated by Convergence Strategy Group, revealed that the casino would earn $22 Million in gaming tax revenue for the state within three years of the operation. It will provide $12 Million in additional payments and $4.2 Million from eateries, sale of products, motel or hotel, and property taxes. The new City Council member will replace Tomer. The City Council is the administering body of the state and comprises nine people elected for a four-year term. The council selects the mayor and vice mayor for a two-year term.
