Four new casinos have been proposed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, at Biloxi, D’Iberville, Long Beach and Lakeshore.
RAM Group recently filed an application with the Mississippi Gaming Commission to build the Biloxi House at Point Cadet casino resort at the former Margaritaville Casino site, vacant since 2014. The group includes Tom Moore, previously an investor in the unsuccessful Oyster Bay Casino project in D’Iberville.
Moore said the $200 million project will incorporate the original 68,000 square foot building, but added, “Nothing’s going to be the same.” He said the property will not have a tropical theme like Margaritaville but will combine “Old Biloxi” authenticity with an environmentally friendly aesthetic.
Biloxi House will feature a gaming floor with more than 1,000 slots, table games, poker room and sports betting, Moore said. Also, the property will offer a 300-room all-suites hotel; a fine dining restaurant, sports lounge, buffet and fast food outlets; waterfront infinity pool, marina and boating attraction; spa and fitness center; indoor and outdoors entertainment venues; and parking garage.
Also, as required by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the casino resort will offer a unique amenity designed to grow the market. Moore hinted, “The amenity is going to be in collaboration with one of the largest events in the state of Mississippi.”
Moore said following approvals, the property could open in late 2020. He said developers will work with the city on improving access from U.S. 90 to the casino, one of the reasons Margaritaville failed.
In D’Iberville, Mayor Rusty Quave recently announced D’Iberville Coastal Corporation and Global Gaming Leasing have expressed interest in developing a casino where the Oyster Bay Casino previously was sought near the Jackson County line.
D’Iberville Coastal Corporation executives, Texas-based Ron Wellborn Sr. and Stephen Richer, formerly executive director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said in a statement, “D’Iberville is the perfect location for additional lodging, entertainment, retail, special activities and gaming, due to the high volume of retail sales, current casino success and access to Interstate 10.”
The developers said they have “several options to fully fund the project, acquire the necessary properties and develop a resort which will broadly expand the customer base for D’Iberville, Harrison County, Coastal Mississippi and the state, as well as generate more jobs, economic impact and tax revenue.”
Quave said the city will provide a letter of intent within the next six months to allow the developers to lease Fountain Pier on the Back Bay as part of the overall planned project. He noted the pier will remain in the public domain and the developers may make improvements to the waterfront after the casino is built.
Quave said details about the project will be released when the developers file for a hearing with the Mississippi Gaming Commission. To meet the commission’s regulations, the development must be within 800 feet of the water line, have at least 300 hotel rooms and a fine dining restaurant plus an attraction or amenity that will help grow the local market.
Quave said he’s not concerned the proposed casino could cannibalize business at nearby Scarlet Pearl Resort, which opened in December 2015. Quave said the Pearl, which took more than two decades to get built in D’Iberville, is everything the city had hoped for, “That and more,” he said, adding another casino would boost tourism in D’Iberville and across the Coast, he said.
The state gaming commission granted site approval for a new casino in Long Beach in January, another possible casino at Lakeshore advertised in March.
