The City of Richmond’s Resort Casino Evaluation Panel has reduced the shortlist of proposed resort casino projects being considered to Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond and ONE Casino + Resort.   The proposed Bally’s Richmond Casino Resort and the project’s proposed site of Parkway Crossings (Chippenham Parkway and Powhite Parkway) are no longer being considered by the Evaluation Panel.   “We appreciate Bally’s interest to develop a resort casino project in Richmond,” said Leonard Sledge, Director of the city’s Department of Economic Development.  “The Evaluation Panel is no longer considering the Bally’s project or the Parkway Crossings site for a resort casino due to concerns about site access, environmental factors, and required approvals from non-city entities that may not be granted or extend the project timeline.  We also appreciate the many Richmond citizens who have shared their thoughts throughout this process.”   The Evaluation Panel is continuing its evaluation o

  Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced today the City of Richmond has acquired the private land on 1305 North 5 th Street – the known location of the historic Burial Ground for Freed People of Color.   Back in February, the city was the only bidder for the property, which was sold at auction for a bid of $145,000. City officials completed the transaction on Friday, April 16 and obtained the title to the property.   The purchased parcel represents 1.21 acres of a two-acre public burying ground established by the City of Richmond in 1816.  One acre was set aside for enslaved people and the other for free people of color. The last reported burial was recorded in 1879.   Over the past 200 years, the cemetery was expanded, referred to by various names, and desecrated -- including grave robbing to supply the Medical College of Virginia with cadavers in the mid-nineteenth century.   In 1960, the city sold the property to the Sun Oil Company with no acknowledgement of the cemetery.

Grenova Inc. to invest $10.6 million to increase production of pipette tip cleaning, washing and sterilizing machines Governor Ralph Northam today announced that Grenova Inc., a Virginia-based sustainable biotech firm that designs, develops, and manufactures devices that wash and sterilize contaminated pipette tips for reuse, will invest $10.6 million to expand in the City of Richmond. The company will relocate its operations from Manchester to a larger facility in Scott’s Addition and increase capacity with new production lines in response to the shortage of pipette tips used for COVID-19 testing. Governor Northam joined company leaders at the site of Grenova’s future location at 1900 Ellen Road to celebrate the project, which will add 250 new jobs over the next three years.   “We are thrilled to celebrate this homegrown sustainable biotech firm expanding and adding to its workforce in Richmond,” said Governor Northam . “It is remarkable to see Virginia’s innovative life sciences