The in-the-works return of horse racing at Colonial Downs is improving the odds for a dormant retail property in Richmond’s Southside.
Officials on Wednesday celebrated the start of site work for Rosie’s Gaming Emporium, an off-track horse-betting parlor planned for the former Kmart property at 6807 Midlothian Turnpike.
The $41 million project – one of 10 such facilities planned across the state to supplement the reopening of the New Kent County racetrack – would redevelop the shuttered big-box store into a 140,000-square-foot off-track betting parlor with 700 “historical horse racing” game machines, a 100-seat restaurant, a bar and gift shop.
The facility is scheduled to open in June, ahead of the planned return of horse racing at Colonial Downs next fall.
