Norfolk Leases City-Owned Property to Boyd Gaming for Casino Construction
Posted on: October 9, 2025, 11:31h.
Last updated on: October 9, 2025, 11:40h.
- Norfolk is leasing city land to Boyd Gaming
- Boyd will use the property for construction staging and parking
The City of Norfolk is leasing about four acres of city-owned land to Boyd Gaming to assist in the construction of the $750 million casino project adjacent to the Harbor Park Minor League Baseball stadium.
On Tuesday, the Norfolk City Council signed off on the Boyd Gaming Corporation Lease. The ordinance provides city-owned land for Boyd to use for construction laydown, equipment staging, and worker parking.
Boyd will initially pay the city $5,000 a month, or $60K a year, to utilize 3.87 acres located west of Reeves Ave between Brown and Claiborne Aves. The lease runs through Dec. 31, 2027.
Boyd has the privilege of paying only for the property it uses during the final year of the contract. The ordinance states that the tenant “shall terminate this Lease in its entirety or reduce the Premises to only what Tenant needs for laydown purposes and parking.”
In the event of a reduction in the Premises … the Rent payable shall be reduced consistent with the reduction in size of the Premises (e.g., if Tenant reduces the Premises by 50%, Rent shall be reduced by 50%).
The $5,000 rent is due on the first of the month throughout the term. The rent increases by 3% on each anniversary of the contract’s commencement date.
The leased property is just east of the Norfolk casino construction site across the Norfolk Southern Railway.
Norfolk Casino
The Pamunkey Indian Tribe, Norfolk’s “exclusive gaming developer” for the city’s casino opportunity, brought on Boyd Gaming last year to get the long-delayed project to construction. Before Virginia lawmakers earmarked a commercial casino for Norfolk in 2020, the Pamunkey Tribe was mulling a tribal casino in the region with billionaire Jon Yarbrough.
Yarbrough sold his 80% stake in the project to Boyd for an undisclosed sum. Boyd has since expedited the construction licensing and approval process, with work beginning in earnest in February.
The to-be-named Norfolk casino plan includes a 200-room hotel and casino with 1,500 slot machines, 50 table games, and a sportsbook. Resort amenities include eight food and beverage outlets, a full-service gym, a rooftop deck, 13K square feet of meeting space, and a 1,000-space parking garage that will have dedicated spaces for Amtrak riders.
The permanent resort, slated to open in 2027, is projected to create 850 jobs.
Temporary Casino
In the meantime, a temporary casino is legally mandated to open on the construction site by November 15. The local referendum passed by Norfolk voters in November 2020 required some form of gaming to commence on the approved site at 200 Park Avenue within five years.
Boyd says The Interim Gaming Hall will open early next month with 130 slots but no table games or sports betting. The pavilion tent structure will operate seven days a week from 10 am until 2 am. Drinks, including alcohol, as well as food from an on-site food truck, will be available.
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