The developers of the Norfolk casino project are abandoning plans to build a temporary casino next to Harbor Park stadium and instead say they will build the permanent gaming and resort components in two phases.
HeadWaters Resort and Casino will be the city’s first casino. Initially, the city sought to house a temporary casino inside the baseball stadium while the permanent structure was built. But that idea was scrapped last year, and a plan for a 45,000 square-foot temporary casino was proposed for Harbor Park’s parking lot and was expected to replace 300 parking spots. A project spokesperson said as recently as last month that plans for the temporary casino structure were still it the works.
But new renderings released this week outline changes for the resort and casino, with the entire project planned to be built in two phases.
Phase one will include a 90,000 square-foot “initial facility,” with a 45,000 square-foot casino floor, complete with a sports bar, restaurant and lobby, according to Jay Smith, a spokesperson for the project. Project leaders also plan to build a parking deck with 1,200 parking spaces.
Phase two will consist of the hotel, pool, spa, entertainment venue and other resort amenities.
HeadWaters announced this week it submitted a development certificate application for the first phase of the project. If the city approves the plans at the end of the summer, Smith said construction could begin at the end of the year.
There is currently no set schedule for construction on phase two, he said.
Voters in Norfolk and Portsmouth each approved gaming facilities in their cities in 2020 referendums. Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened in January.
