By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com
BILOXI – Las Vegas casino executive Peter Simon has filed a notice of intent with the Mississippi Gaming Commission, a first step toward putting a casino in D’Iberville.
The plans call for a 52,500-square-foot casino with 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games. The 30-acre site is on the west side of Interstate 110. Simon, who was a top executive with Mandalay Resort Group before it was acquired by MGM Mirage, had plans earlier this year along with partners to put a $385 million all-slot machine casino in Pittsburgh. The group decided against that project.
The site includes the 15 acres owned by Terry Moran and Mark Seymour.
“He’s putting money in it himself,” said Seymour. “That’s a real good sign. I’ve had all kinds of screwballs wanting to grab onto it. They were just speculators. Peter is for real.”
Simon’s West D’Iberville Development LLC has bought another 15 acres north of the land owned by Moran and Seymour.
“We’ve been working with him for about a year now,” Seymour said. “At first, he was just looking at our site. Then when Hurricane Katrina hit, it changed everything.”
The Legislature changed state law to allow casinos to move ashore within 800 feet of where gambling barges could be located.
D’Iberville has been seeking a casino for more than 10 years. Developments were announced in the past, but later abandoned. The new state law and federal tax incentives for investment in hurricane-ravaged areas are spurring a new wave of casino projects along the Coast.
Source: Bilxo Sun Herald
(CBS4 News) BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI The skyline of Biloxi changed early Sunday with the demolition of the 12-story Grand Casino Island View Hotel.
Mayor A.J. Holloway pushed the button which set off the series of explosions that brought down the building, which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina last year.
The enormous cloud of dust that the building created as it fell neatly in place, dissipated before it even reached the crowds of people watching.
Harrah’s is planning a $1 billion dollar construction project that will bring a new casino resort to the property.
It is projected to take at least a couple of years to recreate a full resort casino on the site, but Harrah’s plans to have a casino fully operating this year in a building that was part of the complex.
See the video at:
http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_142110428.html
Source: CBS
PHILADELPHIA, Miss. – The owners of the Beau Rivage hope to reopen on Aug. 29, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The owners gave the Mississippi Gaming Commission a preview of the new refurbished casinos and hotel design on Thursday. The commission met at the location of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians casinos near Philadelphia.
George P. Corchis Jr., president of Beau Rivage, said the casino and hotel will have new restaurants, including an Olives owned and operated by chef Todd English.
“We have taken a property that no doubt was the premier property in Mississippi and we have taken it to the next level,” Corchis said.
The resort will have a fresh, updated look and a better-integrated service network so employees can more efficiently handle the needs of guests, he said. All standard rooms are being redone from scratch and all suites remodeled.
The casino is adding a poker room and a better-defined high-limits area. The shops along the retail promenade will have their own personality on the inside and outside.
“It’s almost going to look like a street,” Corchis said
Stores familiar to Beau Rivage guests will return, he said.
He said when the resort reopens it will have between 3,400 and 3,600 employees, the same number as when the hurricane hit.
Also Thursday, officials said the Casino Magic-Bay St. Louis will become a Hollywood Casino, similar to the one its parent company, Penn National Gaming, owns in Tunica County. The casino there is dedicated to movie themes and has displays from “Titanic” and Elvis Presley movies. It is scheduled to reopen later this year.
Gulfside Casino Partnership surrendered its license for the Copa Casino and will reopen as the Gulfport Oasis Casino. The Gulfport Oasis, owned by Rick Carter and Terry Green, is set to open Sept. 2.
Source :APÂ
