The price of renting an apartment or home is up 20- to 30-percent since the storm. And with rental houses and apartments in short supply, it appears the problem is only going to get worse before it gets better.
Meanwhile, construction crews are working round-the-clock to repair the hurricane-ravaged Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi. On Monday, the casino is scheduled to re-open its employment center on LeMoyne Boulevard–another step toward recovery, but many wonder where the 3,000 employees the Beau plans to hire will live.
“A lot of people are just moving all over, wherever they can find a home or a house. I don’t have the answer to it. You know, I mean, this is one of the real, complex problems we’re going to have, and like you say, it’s not going to be over with for another year or two years, because it’s going to take that much time to rebuild,” said Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway.
Mayor Holloway says the casino may soon be breaking ground on a temporary housing solution for its employees.
“I do know that they probably will, maybe put some housing, or trailers on some land north of I-10, north of there,” he said.
However, Holloway says housing employees in the casino’s hotel rooms is probably not an option. Read the rest of this entry »
Grand Casino Biloxi opening by Aug. 17 “Harrah’s Entertainment plans to spend $85 million to $90 million to reopen the Grand Casino Biloxi on or before Aug. 17. “That’s the word from Thomas E. O’Donnell, president of the Gulf Coast region for Harrah’s, who appeared before the Biloxi Planning Commission on Thursday.
However, he was tight-lipped about development plans for the property south of U.S. 90. The company has previously said the reopening is the first phase of Harrah’s commitment to develop a ‘world class’ resort. “�The casino will cover 21,245 square feet. There will also be two large restaurants, a big bar, a health spa and 500 hotel rooms.
Soure: AP
By the end of the year more than 10,000 casino jobs will be back on the Gulf Coast.
Six additional casinos shut down by Hurricane Katrina are expected to open, joining the three that are already open.
When Katrina struck Aug. 29, it shut down the 12 casinos operating on the Coast.
When the casinos return, the amenities are expected to be better than they were before the hurricane, said said Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
The former Grand Casino Gulfport, Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, and Beau Rivage Casino Resort, the former Grand Casino, Boomtown and Treasure Bay, all in Biloxi, are expected to reopen this year, Gregory said.
“I toured Beau Rivage last week and the three fine dining restaurants are being upgraded to be first-class, one-of-a-kind,” he said. “All of the hotel rooms are being updated and remodeled. It’s hard to believe you could make it a better property, but it’s absolutely gorgeous what they’re doing with it. Everything is on track for it to reopen on Aug. 29.”
IP Hotel & Casino in Biloxi reopened its casino barge Dec. 22. Isle of Capri Casino Resort in Biloxi reopened Dec. 26, and Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi reopened Dec. 30. Isle and Palace, whose casino barges were destroyed, are operating smaller casinos in their hotels.
The reopening of six additional casinos would increase casino employment by 6,500 people, Gregory said. “That would put casino employment at 10,500,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
