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Casino

Comstock is a real estate company that’s focused on developing the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and suburban areas, especially with growing populations. One of their hopeful projects is a casino. Comstock is trying to open a casino near the Wiehle-Reston metro station. To open a casino, however, the company will have to convince the Virginia General Assembly that a casino should be permitted in the first place. So far Comstock has been unsuccessful, as a bill introduced by Senator Marsden that would permit casino gaming in Reston was unanimously rejected by the Virginia General Assembly. 

The MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino, located 35 minutes away from Reston in Oxon Hill, Maryland, has generated over $1 billion in tax revenue since it opened in December 2016. However, according to ABC7, there has been a 108% increase in crime in the last year at the  National Harbor, including a recent carjacking incident. 

Notably, the MGM casino is in a more commercial location, next to a major highway and without residential neighborhoods in the nearby radius. A resident of Reston communicated a worry that there would be an issue of space: “There’s nowhere to put a casino because then you have to do event space as well.” Additionally, there are residential neighborhoods surrounding the Wiehle-Reston metro, and the casino would be less than a mile away from the nearest residents.

Currently, there are three casinos that allow gambling in the state of Virginia. These are in Portsmouth, Bristol, and Danville. None of the current casinos in Virginia were opened by Comstock. With the three open casinos alone, they have brought in $308 million in net revenue as of the end of the fiscal year in June. This profit is unexpected and surprising. It brings the question of “Could this be beneficial or detrimental to Reston and Fairfax Country?” 

Since the pandemic, less office space has been utilized in Fairfax County. According to the Reston Patch, Senator David Marsden suggested that Fairfax County needs additional streams of revenue other than property taxes. With a casino as a near guaranteed source of revenue for the state, there is a good change of economic growth that comes with a casino. 

With the pros and cons of a casino, time will tell whether the Virginia General Assembly will approve this bill. While a casino would be an assured money maker for the state of Virginia, the feelings of the locals and residents of Reston will be accounted for, and will play a part in whether this casino will be approved or not.