Norfolk leaders are looking into whether an under-construction waterfront casino near Harbor Park could be the centerpiece of an entertainment and nightlife district for the city following a 2022 downtown crackdown.
Sean Washington, Norfolk’s economic development director, confirmed the city was engaged in early planning of the creation of an entertainment district around the casino and Harbor Park on Friday after a tourism event.
“You have a premier baseball team,” Washington said. “You have a premier, world-class casino facility. What else can we do with the rest of the site?”
Norfolk owns much of the land around the casino site and Harbor Park and uses a significant portion of it for surface parking lots during Tides games. However, several lots have closed due to casino construction, and the city is encouraging attendees to park in downtown decks and take the light rail to games.
The planning of a waterfront entertainment district comes after the city conducted a downtown nightclub crackdown in 2022, yanking the conditional use permits for several clubs after a handful of downtown shootings.
Washington said the Harbor Park area is buffered by Interstate 264 and the railroad and is relatively far away from residential buildings. Many of the former clubs that were shut down were close to the thousands of people who live in downtown apartment buildings.
During a Friday panel hosted by the city’s destination marketing organization VisitNorfolk, Washington said he envisioned Norfolk becoming a growing urban core of the region like Austin, Texas; Tampa Bay, Florida; or Nashville, Tennessee.
Fellow panelist and Norfolk casino general manager Ron Bailey said casino leaders are currently focused on opening a temporary gambling hall tent later this year to meet a statutory deadline.
However, he said construction on the permanent hotel and casino is progressing, and crews recently installed more than 2,500 concrete piles, with 4,000 needed to begin building the structure vertically. The casino is scheduled to open in 2027 with plans to include 200 guest rooms, 24 suites, an 8,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, a 25,000-square-foot pool and outdoor deck, eight food venues, and a 1,400-space parking garage.
The casino will face local competition from Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, which has already earned about $212.4 million in gambling revenue in 2025, according to the Virginia Lottery.
In 2024, Norfolk visitors spent $1.5 billion in the city, a 4.9% increase from 2023, according to VisitNorfolk. Tourism also generated $65.5 million in local tax revenue and $37.7 million for the state.
