BILOXI (WLOX) — WLOX News has confirmed that Hard Rock’s biggest investor has a deal pending to buy the old Windjammer condo site. And that should pave the way for Hard Rock to expand its downtown Biloxi resort.
Papers were signed Tuesday night so the Leucadia National Corporation could buy Windjammer’s 1.6 acre property, plus its harbor.
The property being sold is immediately to the west of Hard Rock’s swimming pool. So, it could easily be incorporated into future expansion plans.
A purchase price, and a closing date, have not been released.
Site approval expected to be on June agenda
BILOXI – Mayor A.J. Holloway welcomed the Mississippi Gaming Commission to Biloxi and the Hard Rock Casino on Thursday and said he hopes they will look favorably on the Gold Coast Casino.
Now known as the South Beach Resort and Casino, the project was rezoned waterfront by the Biloxi City Council. The commission will determine if the property on the north side of U.S. 90 on the Biloxi Strip is a suitable casino site.
Chairman Jerry St. Pé responded to Holloway’s remarks by saying the city can count on the commission to be “aggressive visionary partners.” He said the commission would look at the South Beach project “objectively, fairly and thoroughly.”
Officials from South Beach met recently with commission Executive Director Larry Gregory, who expects the site approval could be on the commission agenda in June. Read the rest of this entry »
With the continuing talks of gambling coming to Florida and Alabama, casino operators on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are keeping a close eye at the effects this could cause of coast gambling.
BILOXI – After a record-breaking year at the Coast casinos, competition is closing in from Mobile and Florida as other states look to legalize gambling to pay for schools and Medicare.
The Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review last week said Mississippi could lose $254 million in yearly casino revenue and 3,191 direct jobs when the seven Seminole casinos in Florida are outfitted with new slot machines and table games. Because nearly all of the Florida gamblers play at the Coast casinos, those figures would mean one-quarter of the 12,328 people employed at the local casinos would lose their jobs. Read the rest of this entry »
