Virginia: Petersburg refuses to release Cordish's winning $1.4B casino proposal

On Tuesday, Petersburg's Freedom of Information Act Officer Shaunta’ Beasley said the winning proposal for a planned casino project will not be released because the city canceled its competitive bidding process and hasn't awarded a contract to Cordish.

"Therefore, the file is closed and no records are available," Beasley said in an email to The Virginia Mercury after the publication requested a copy of the successful casino offer submitted to the city by Maryland-based Cordish Companies.

Some details have been publicly revealed about the proposal from Cordish and the other four bidders that responded to Petersburg’s February 12 request for proposals. Cordish envisions a mixed-use gambling and entertainment development that could total $1.4 billion over 15 years. The first phase calls for a casino, a 200-room hotel, and an event center. 

But the refusal to release the full proposal, which presumably contains more information about the casino’s expected timeline, costs, financial projections, and impact on the community, is the latest example of what some see as a troubling lack of transparency surrounding Petersburg’s attempts to become the latest Virginia city eligible to have a casino. 

"I would be hard-pressed to come up with any policy reasons that would say you can get around both procurement and public records laws simply by saying ‘Oh well we’ve canceled the process and made a decision outside of it'," said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, as reported by The Virginia Mercury.

Petersburg is preparing to ask its voters to approve the Cordish project in a ballot referendum expected to take place in November. City residents were invited to a public town hall on the casino proposals held on April 14, with each company invited to give a high-level overview of their plan. But the Petersburg City Council selected Cordish three days later after a closed session and virtually no public discussion.

Render of Cordish's proposed casino

The city had indicated to casino bidders it would keep their responses to the RFP confidential "as requested by the responding firms," according to city documents. The RFP said that confidentiality would end when the city had chosen a partner and officially signed a development agreement. It remains unclear whether Cordish instructed Petersburg not to release its casino proposal.

Under Virginia law, government procurement records are supposed to be open to the public, with some exceptions meant to allow officials to review competing bids privately before announcing a winner and to protect “trade secrets or proprietary information” submitted by private companies. 

Petersburg didn't point to a specific FOIA exemption to explain why transparency laws don't apply to Cordish's response to the RFP. Instead, Beasley cited a section of the Virginia Public Procurement Act laying out multiple FOIA exemptions related to competitive bidding.

That code section says the trade secrets exemption can’t be used to shield an entire bid or proposal from public view. However, the law says proposal records only become public "after the award of the contract."

After a closed-door meeting on April 24, the Petersburg City Council voted to cancel the casino RFP and select Cordish as the city's casino developer, a move that surprised and confused several of the companies competing for the project. 

The city, which didn’t answer follow-up questions about how it could keep the proposal under wraps, seems to be claiming it doesn’t have to release the winning bid because, technically, there was no winner. Though the city has hailed the selection of Cordish as a major step forward in the process, Beasley said “no award was made” under the RFP.

Render of Cordish's proposed casino

When the General Assembly passed a law in 2020 opening the door to casinos in Virginia, state lawmakers only authorized a few select cities to pursue casinos. Because cities like Bristol and Portsmouth that lobbied for the 2020 bill already had casino plans in the works, the state didn’t require local governments to choose casino companies via competitive bidding.

The murky process has stoked major controversy in Petersburg. One week before unanimously picking Cordish, Petersburg City Manager John "March" Altman signed a letter of intent indicating the city was picking Bally's Corporation.

The city claims that was a result of improper political demands from the state legislature meant to steer Petersburg’s casino project in a particular direction. Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, whose office created Bally’s letter, has disputed the city’s allegation of outside pressure.

Communications records obtained through FOIA show Aird’s office helped prepare Bally’s letter and received the signed copy from Altman just minutes before the General Assembly convened on April 17, when the legislature voted to give Petersburg permission for a casino officially. 

In a new statement Tuesday, Aird said the city’s letter of intent selecting Bally’s "arose from their attorney refusing to assist them, and that is what’s reflected." Her office, she said, was serving as a "sincere resource and collaborative partner" for Petersburg's leaders, as reported by the above-mentioned media.