A rendering shows the future Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a $400 million resort set to be built on the Bristol Mall property. Rendering courtesy Friedmutter Group
“Get it done!” Those three words sent Jason Eige and Martin Kent on a mission to bring a casino to Bristol Mall before commercial gaming resorts were even legal in Virginia.
Eige, general counsel for The United Co., and Kent, the oil and gas company’s president and chief operating officer, vividly remember the day they were called to CEO Jim McGlothlin’s office to discuss turning Bristol Mall into a casino.
“It all started in the late summer of 2018, when The United Co. became involved with Clyde Stacy, president of Par Ventures LLC, who owned Bristol Mall,” Eige says. “He came up with the idea of a casino and called Jim, a former business partner. They both felt it would be something impactful for the region and the community, that it would provide another opportunity for those living and working in this region. We were told to get it done.”
