A battle is brewing once again over the prospect of a casino in Fairfax County.

As opponents continue to organize, including under a No Fairfax Casino Coalition that mostly consists of homeowners’ and citizen associations, several labor unions have now come out in support of the casino and entertainment district envisioned in Tysons by the developer Comstock Companies.

The newly formed Fairfax County Jobs Coalition will make its public introduction with a rally and press conference at the Fairfax County Government Center before the Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesday (Oct. 22).

According to a media advisory, hundreds of workers are expected to attend. Coalition members include the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO, the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT), UNITE HERE (which represents hotel and restaurant workers), SEIU Local 32BJ (a union for building workers), construction trades unions, and the immigrant and civil rights advocacy organization CASA.

The developers have committed to implementing project labor agreements (PLA) guaranteeing “paid family-sustaining wages,” apprenticeship programs and other conditions for workers at the future entertainment complex, Greg Akerman, president of the D.C. area’s Building Trades Unions, said.

“There are union agreements in place that provide a fair process for thousands of workers to decide on permanent union jobs that would dramatically raise living standards for low-income workers in our community,” Virginia Diamond, president of the NoVA Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, said.

More to development than a casino, Comstock says

Talk of a casino in Fairfax County, specifically in the Silver Line corridor, first cropped up in January 2023 when state Sen. Dave Marsden (D-35) and Del. Wren Williams (R-47) introduced identical bills in the General Assembly that would add the county to Virginia’s small list of localities authorized to host a casino gaming facility.

Though those bills were quickly withdrawn after Marsden admitted they were “rushed,” Comstock reportedly continued to express interest in adding a casino to its development around the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.

Marsden filed a new bill during the 2024 General Assembly session that ultimately limited the potential sites for a casino to Tysons by requiring that it be part of a mixed-use development that’s outside the Capital Beltway (I-495), on the Silver Line and within two miles of a “regional enclosed mall.”

The state senator previously told FFXnow that Comstock is eyeing the now-vacant Exclusive Automotive Group lot at 8546 Leesburg Pike near the Spring Hill Metro station. The property was approved for mixed-use development by Fairfax County in 2019, though there’s been no movement since on the “View at Tysons” project led by Clemente Development Company.

Comstock spokesperson Melanie McKee, however, says a specific parcel for the development in Tysons hasn’t been selected, since the project hasn’t reached the land use stage yet.

In addition to a 200,000-square-foot casino, the 4-million-square-foot development would include a hotel, a performing arts venue, restaurants, retail and workforce housing, according to the Fairfax County Jobs Coalition. McKee confirmed that those numbers are “loosely correct.”

“It’s a much larger project than the 5% that’s casino,” she told FFXnow.

FFXnow has reached out to Marsden but didn’t get a response by press time.

Unions highlight potential job creation

Marsden’s legislation originally required the future casino builder to pay construction workers prevailing wages and the operator to enter into labor peace agreements with at least one union “actively engaged in representing or seeking to represent employees in the gaming or hospitality industries in the Commonwealth.”

However, those provisions were removed in a substitute brought to a Senate subcommittee on gaming on Jan. 24. The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee ultimately voted on Feb. 6 to postpone consideration until 2025.

According to the Fairfax County Jobs Coalition, the planned casino development would bring 5,000 jobs to Tysons, including “union construction jobs and a fair process for thousands of permanent hospitality workers to decide on unionization.”

A casino gaming study conducted by the state’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission in 2019 estimated that a Northern Virginia casino would employ 3,200 workers and bring in an additional $155 million in state tax revenue, though it didn’t specifically look at Fairfax County.

In the past, Marsden has argued that a casino would help diversify Fairfax County’s commercial tax base, which has been shrinking due to a challenged post-pandemic office market.

The jobs coalition has picked up on that angle. FCFT President David Walrod says the project is expected to generate $140 million of additional commercial tax revenue for Fairfax County, where leaders are considering imposing a meals tax, among other new revenue options.

The local revenue estimate came from an independent study that looked at benefits of the entertainment district as a whole, not just the casino, according to a spokesperson from UNITE Here Local 25.

“This is an important opportunity to bring in more commercial tax revenue for schools and other county services, which is sorely needed,” Walrod said.

Casino opponents plan community meeting

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has yet to take an official stance on the proposed casino, but several members expressed skepticism earlier this year of assertions that it would be a financial boon for the local government.

Virginia taxes casino revenue 18 to 30%, with the equivalent of a 6-8% tax going to each host locality.

Casino opponents are also planning to take a stand later this month, with the No Casino Coalition hosting a community forum at McLean High School (1633 Davidson Road) from 3-4:30 p.m. on Oct. 28. State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-38), who spoke out against Marsden’s legislation in the last General Assembly session, will attend as a guest speaker.

The No Casino Coalition says the union support for proposed development hasn’t altered its stance, calling supporters’ characterization of the project as an entertainment venue an attempt “to shift attention away from the negative aspects associated with casinos and gambling.”

“Our members have been out for months taking the pulse of the community on this issue and what has become crystal clear to us is that the majority of people we meet are against the idea of a casino in the Fairfax County community,” coalition spokesperson Lynne Mulston said in a statement. “They are wary of the unsupported promises of overnight economic relief and doubt the claims that the casino sponsors have made.”

No legislation has been filed yet for the 2025 General Assembly session. If a bill is adopted and signed into law, Fairfax County voters would still have to approve a casino with a referendum.

This story was updated with comments from Comstock and the No Fairfax Casino Coalition.