An all-important referendum on whether or not the nation’s largest multimedia company superserving African American consumers can move forward with its second casino gaming resort is being put to voters on Tuesday.
Does polling suggest that the plan may not win voter approval?
It appears some shareholders may be concern that Richmond voters will say no to Urban One‘s plan.
On July 30, the owner of Radio One, Reach Media, TV One and sister MVPD-distributed channel Cleo followed through with a refundable $26 million upfront payment to the City of Richmond.
Specifically, by making the deposit Urban One subsidiary RVA Entertainment Holdings entered into a “Host Community Agreement” with the Virginia municipality for the development of the ONE Casino + Resort.
Urban One was joined by development partner Pacific Peninsula Entertainment, owner of Colonial Downs, in successfully making the Upfront Payment, presently held in escrow.
The project carries a $600 million price tag, and The E.W. Scripps Co.‘s CBS affiliate in Richmond, WTVR-6, on Wednesday offered a report on what happens if City of Richmond voters reject the ONE Casino + Resort referendum.
With Urban One beating out five other applicants in a Request for Proposals sought by the City of Richmond, voter approval will bring a plan that has been years in the making to fruition. It would put a casino resort on the city’s south side, on former Philip Morris-owned land which would be transformed to house a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor, a 250-room hotel, a theater, a festival lawn and commercial space for 15 restaurants and bars.
Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins III, in an interview with business publication Richmond BizSense, said he envisions 80% of casino visitors coming from outside of the region. Some $50 million each year would go to the City of Richmond, based on revenue projections.
How does Liggins feel about voter support of the referendum? “We’ve had a phenomenal level of support,” he said. “There’s not 100% agreement on any issue, but you can’t really argue with the economic development benefits of our proposal to the city. There are people that take issue with the gaming aspect of our project. But, this is a complete, integrated, resort casino and entertainment complex, not just a gaming complex, and it’s 100% privately financed.”
Should voters say yes, Urban One will put the casino application into the Virginia Lottery office, which handles gaming in the state and issues the license needed for operation. This is due no later than December 15. At that time, Urban One hopes to close on the purchase of the land from Philip Morris.
“All during that time, we will be completing construction/architectural drawings in order to submit for permits,” Liggins said. “By April 1, we’ll start demolition of the site and site work. Then we will probably begin digging dirt and start full-fledged construction by July 1.”
If the City of Richmond referendum should fail, Liggins believes the Virginia General Assembly will ultimately look to put it in a locality in and around Richmond in Central Virginia “in one of the outlying counties that does want it.”
He added, “I do not believe that the General Assembly and the governor will want to leave Central Virginia without a gaming opportunity. The state has decided this is good for the state from a revenue generation standpoint and they’ve given five localities the opportunities to develop a casino resort, and if Richmond citizens vote no, then it will end up in Henrico or Chesterfield, similar to what happened with the Navy Hill project.”
Despite that confidence, UONE fell to $9.50 in heavy trading on the Nasdaq exchange in Friday’s trading, losing $1.17 from Thursday. That said, Urban One’s shares had been on a recent upswing, reaching $11.43 on Wednesday — the day the interview with Liggins was published and the WTVR report aired.
Urban One’s other class of stock, “UONEK,” closed down 3 cents to $7.07 in lower-than-average activity.
