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The Pamunkey Indian Tribe and its casino development team have resubmitted plans for the HeadWaters Resort and Casino project that show a more compact footprint without a marina and envision the casino opening before the rest of the facility. 
The final site plans must be reviewed and ultimately approved by City Council before Norfolk will sell the necessary land for the project, which is adjacent to Harbor Park and the Elizabeth River. The plans are slated to first be reviewed at a Jan. 8 Architectural Review Board hearing.
There are no details in the documents submitted to the city about the construction timeline or full cost of the project. But casino representatives said the plan is for at least some casino gaming operations to begin in 2025 while construction of other parts of the development, including the hotel and spa, is ongoing. HeadWaters developers are “committed” to spend at least half a billion dollars on the casino project, which includes a 300-room hotel, fitness and spa area, restaurants, and 65,000-square foot casino floor, said Jay Smith, a spokesperson for HeadWaters.
“We need to start construction in spring of ‘24 to meet our statutory requirement of opening game operations by November 2025,” Smith said.
Smith said plans would involve building out the property from north to south with construction on the hotel starting in 2026 as part of one continuous build.
The casino is looking to set up 1,800 to 2,000 gaming machines and 50 table games, but he said fewer machines and tables are likely to be up and running in the beginning.
“So on day one of November 2025, it won’t have 2,000 machines and 50 table games, it will probably be about half that,” Smith said.
The tribe and developers Golden Eagle Consulting II pulled the last plans before a vote from the city’s Architectural Review Board earlier this year after opposition from city leadership to a two-phase approach that sought to build the permanent gaming and resort components in two phases and lacked details about the hotel and other amenities.
It’s unclear whether city leaders will support the latest iteration of the plan, which is designed as one proposal but envisions opening in multiple phases.
Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander said this week he hadn’t seen the newly submitted plans yet, but stood by his commitment that the city would approve plans that deliver what the voters approved in a 2020 referendum and what is reflected in the original agreement. Alexander said council will approve the construction of the project as one detailed package, not in any piecemeal approach that requires multiple approvals from councils.
“I’ve been part of the conversation that they will build the entire project and what has been submitted in the past was unacceptable, suggesting a building (of) the casino and the garage and not having the hotel, spa resort included” in the same proposal, Alexander said.
The new plans also no longer call for work to be done on the direct waterfront, with the entire project north of the Elizabeth River Trail. Previous renderings included a marina on the Elizabeth River, revitalizing several derelict wharfs at the site.
Smith said the decision to shrink the footprint of the project was made because of ongoing discussions between HeadWaters and city staff about impacts of the planned seawall project being built along the downtown waterfront by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In the original agreement between the city and the casino developers, the city would sell about 14 acres of land for the casino project. The tribe has until January 2025 to purchase the land under the terms of the original contract.
The area HeadWaters proposes to develop in the new plans is roughly 6.5 acres of waterfront property between Harbor Park and the Amtrak station, with an additional acre on the other side of the train station that will be used for construction staging and potentially turned into parking.
Smith said the casino developers and the city are working together to figure out the process of potentially amending the original agreement, timeline for the planned seawall and how it affects construction timelines, and potential cost sharing to fund the barrier planned between the river and the casino.
Renderings submitted to the city show the completed building with a garage on the ground floor with more parking in an at least four story deck on the east portion of the structure. The casino has multiple eateries, and is facing Harbor Park and the Elizabeth River. On the east side of the building, there will also be support areas facing a road separating the casino from the Amtrak station. The renderings show the hotel overlooking the Elizabeth River with a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, meeting rooms and a 3,000-square-foot spa.
Alexander said plans should include a schedule of construction.
“I want to have all of that information available to the public so we can all measure benchmarks,” he said.
Alexander said he would measure this site plan submission against the original agreement, which has not been amended since 2020.
“Right now, we’re looking for them to adhere to the development agreement,” Alexander said.
After an Architectural Review Board hearing, the Planning Commission would next review plans, followed by the City Council hearing the applications.
Smith said the time for changes and new ideas for the property is over.
“We’ve got to get building,” he said.
Ian Munro, 757-447-4097,

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