Well, my concern is that there's going to be a ton of expensive condos on the coast, but not enough jobs that pay people enough to afford the rent for a condo. The way I see it, three things could happen. Either there will be high-ride office towers coming in soon and the Gulfport-Biloxi area will quickly surpass Jackson as the most populated area in the state; or the high paying jobs won't come and people will be stuck with rent bills they can't afford and there will be a high turnover rate in occupancy which forces the price of a condo through the floor; or the area will just become another vacation resort for snowbirds who boost the population, traffic, etc for six months of the year (October to April) and then vacate when summer comes around.
It'd be great if Wachovia put it's main Mississippi headquarters in Gulfport because the town would start to emerge as a financial center of the state between Wachovia and Hancock Bank. That might just be wishful thinking though. I do believe the majority of Wachovia branches are in the southern part of the state though (atleast they were when the Wachovia-Southtrust merger was finalized).
Another great idea would be a major mixed use development over by Edgewater Mall which had office buildings, condos and lofts, a movie theatre, a grocery store, restaurants, night clubs/lounges and retail development all in one centralized location, a la Atlantic Station in Atlanta. There are lots of smart ways to redevelop the coast, I just don't think putting only condos in with the casinos is the way to go.
Please tell me Sharkheads is atleast coming back in it's old location WITH the shark's mouth. I used to use that as a way to figure out where I was on 90 when I'd visit the coast.
