Biloxi and the Coast

[tombarnes]

Charrrette Continues in Pass Christian

The design charrette for the rebuilding of Pass christian continued today with presentations from the Bullies of Bentonville. Does their "consideration" of options other than a gray box indicate something better, or just a horrible fake village front? I'd like to see them banished from the Pass, but I suppose that's too much to hope for. Article from the Sun Herald...

[tombarnes]

Pine Island Golf Course- Jackson County

The Pine Island Golf Course will soon be sprouting a new 50 room hotel, condos and more condos. Jackson County has been generally wary of development so far, but this will be an interesting project to watch. I'm surprised that the hotel is only going to be 50 rooms.

Article from WLOX TV

[tombarnes]

Harrah's Will Announce New Casino Mid-Year

Harrah's has said that it will spend "over 1 billion" on its replacement for the Grand Casino in Biloxi. They have also said that the replacement will be the "best in its calsss." PErhaps I am reading too much into this, but I have a feeling that this is simply a nice way of saying that they have no intention of building anything remotely comparable to their investments in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. I hope this won't be the case. I had been hoiping that the new casino would be architecturally significant. This is probably too much to hope for, especially if the company is deliberately viewing Biloxi as a second tier market and parsing out its investments accordingly. Having been given what they wanted by the state legislature, it is their duty to follow up on their word to produce "something spectacular." My hopes for that are beginning to be muddled with prosaic visions of more of the same old schlock -- fake-plantation columns with a couple of chunky room blocks parked behind. The Choctaws showed themselves to be daring and innovative when they commissioned the Golden Moon from Arquitectonica. Let's demand its equal in Biloxi.

Article from the Sun Herald

Edited February 23, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

Biloxi is Rebuilding, However Slowly...

This article from the New York Times describes in detail the tribulations of a devasated city as it struggles to rebuild. With the recent announcements of major casino rebuilding projects, Biloxi may soon be on its way to renewal. As noted in the article, the crushing reality of life in the tattered city is more than many would believe.

Note- Article may require free registration.

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/travel/22biloxi.html

Hyperlink won't work, therefore I have left the link above. TB

Edited February 23, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

Former Grand Casino in Gulfport to Reopen This Summer

The former Grand Casino property in Gulfport will reopen this summer with a new name. The Copa name will return to a second casino on the Gulfport waterfront. The new casinos supposedly have major financial backing. I'm still not sure what their plans will be for the former Grand Casino hotel tower on the gulf side of the property. I would assume that it hasn't been so damaged that it will have to be completely rebuilt, but one never knows. Article from the Sun Herald

[tombarnes]

Sterling Oaks

This 380 unit condominium/hotel development will replace the former Holiday Inn/Biloxi Beach Resort which was destroyed when the President Casino barge landed on top of the building. The project is another development of Gulf Coast Investment Developers.

Sterling Oaks

Edited March 7, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

Windjammer Condominium Demolished

The Windjammer, a mid-rise condominium condominium next to the Beau Rivage has been demolished. After extensive damage from Katrina, this was the mnost likely outcome. Whether MGM Mirage will buy the property or it goes to another casino developer remains to be seen.

Story- WLOX TV 13

Edited March 8, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

Shores of Paradise Financing Approved

An article from GlobeSt.com has a few details about the new financinbg for the Shores of Paradise condotel project in Biloxi. This is another large, architecturally challenged project. It's good to see development happening, but I had been hoping for more unusual projects. At this rate, the Coast is going to look like Destin on steroids.

Edited March 8, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

If there are any doubts about the future of the Mississippi Coast, this article suggests that the course has been set for skyward development. I would hope that the high-rise buildings in question would be intelligently designed and well placed. Building clusters of high-rises leaves open space. Putting them up in an endless string on the waterfront is a far less attractive prospect. I think the people of Bay St. Louis should preserve the character of their town. Preserving the town as it was before Katrina is probably not an option at this point. If the condo towers are well designed and situated in such a way as not to disturb the town, the end result could be a good one. This may prove to be wishful thinking. Developers are seldom sentimentalists....

Hotel-Online/Sun Herald

Edited March 15, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

Grand Casinos in Gulfport--Sale Completed

The anticipated sale of the Grand Casino hotels in Gulfport has now been completed. The new owners hope to have the Oasis hotel up and running with a casino by early 2007. Plans for the Grand Casino hotel across the street have not yet been anounced. It is certain that the name will change, but the new name hasn't yet been anounced.

Article from the Sun Herald

[Citydweller]

I would hope that the high-rise buildings in question would be intelligenbtly designaed and well placed. Building clusters of high-rises leaves open space. Putting them up in an endless string on the waterfront is a far less attractive prospect. I think the people of Bay St. Louis should preserve the character of their town. Preserving the town as it was before Katrina is probably not an option at this point.

Hotel-Online/Sun Herald

This is simply about greed. The area in question is all wetland - which is open space that would have to be open space regardless. It is in the county, not Bay St. Louis, and won't ruin the character of the town. Bay St. Louis' character will be preserved - they will not allow high rises - but they do want approporiate density and mix-use.

The high rise condo-ization and casino - ization will kill the special character of the coast and reduce the long term economic value

[tombarnes]

High-rises are inevitable, as are the casinos. I think the duty of the residents of the area is to demand the best possible design from those who would profit from the Coast. I fear that greed and complacency may thwart the hopes of many for a better Coast. It would appear that Gulfport is at least paying lip service to the tenets of New Urbanism. Having attended some of the meetings, how do you see this area developing?

[Citydweller]

Hi rises are inevitable in some parts of the coast - part of Biloxi and Gulfport especially. The other towns should fight to limit them as much as possible. Again, density can easily be increased to what high rises along the beach would bring, with better urban structure.

In Biloxi and Gulfport (Gulfport especially) the is a chance to tame these beasts at least at the ground level and tie them to the downtown structure, particularly if us 90 is developed as a true boulevard. Biloxi may have already approved too many bad projects to be able to shape the towers and tme the ground floors, but I expect to be involved in a charrette with Stefanos Polyzoides in late April, so we shall see.

In all cases, there are opportunities outside the hirise andcasino zone for mixed use walkable neighborhoods and town centers - that is the true hope of the coast.

[tombarnes]

Mississippi Coast Coliseum to Reopen

The Mississippi Coast Coliseum is scheduled to reopen on the 22nd of July.

Article from the Sun Herald

[tombarnes]

Harrah's Will Reopen the Bayview Hotel This Summer

Harrah's has announced that it will reopen the Bayview Hotel this summer with 500 rooms, a new spa, pool and steakhouse. This will be a small part of the total buildout of the land. I would assume that the first tower will carry the Harrah's or Horseshoe brand. This sould all but confirm that the Islandview Hotel, the original main building, will be torn down and replaced with a new resort.

Business Newswire

Edited March 21, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

Islandview Hotel, Former Casino Theater Etc. Coming Down

Everything on the Gulf side of Harrah's property in Biloxi will be demolished and built anew. For the time being, the Grand Casino name will remain in Biloxi, but this is expected to change once the new plans are developed for the Gulfside property.

WLOX Channel 13

[tombarnes]

Broadwater Plan Clears Council Review

The plans for the first stages of the huge Broadwater Resort development have received clearance from the Biloxi City Council.

Article from the Sun Herald

[tombarnes]

New Chevron Refinery A Possibility for Pascagoula

A $4.8 billion refinery may be built in Pascagoula. While I'm not crazy about the oil business, this could go a long way to jump-start the Coast's economy.

Sun Herald

Edited March 31, 2006 by tombarnes

[tombarnes]

The Breezes of Paradise Bay

This one had completely escaped my radar. I think this is the project which recently gained approval in Waveland. I fully support the idea of urban districts of high-rise buildings. To spread them out indiscriminately does not do much for urban placemaking. This project would be better off elsewhere. Also, the towers look a bit clumsy....

PDF file

More....the link is too long to hide...sorry.

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listi...1lww2t006a00001

Edited April 5, 2006 by tombarnes

[richyb83]

Just how tall is this project Breezes of Paradise Bay ? Hard to count the floors ! Those sky-bridge walkways look pretty cool ! Wow, that will forever change little Waveland ! I am glad to see the coast coming back . Bolder than ever too !

[Citydweller]

Waveland did NOT approve this - the county did. Waveland and Bay St Louis are very much against this project and others like it.

Density can be created without high rises.

[tombarnes]

High-rises are inevitable. What I'd like to see, however, would be more attractive high-rise buildings which are intelligently placed. This doesn't seem to be happening either. Do you think that Ocean Springs and Pass Christian are going to be able to fend them off?

[tombarnes]

Casino Magic Biloxi Sold to Harrah's

A sure sign of Harrah's commitment to Biloxi is their acquisition of the 22 story Casino Magic in Biloxi. I have no idea what the terms of the deal were, but it involved a land swap, giving Pinnacle Entertainment control of the Harrah's property in Lake Charles. As this is adjacent to the Islandview Tower of the Grand Biloxi, it is almost certain that new construction wil replace both buildings.

Sun Herald

[tombarnes]

Hard Rock Hotel May Have New Investor

The Hard Rock Hotel may have a new investor. This ought to get things moving on their restoration efforts. More in this article about the Casino Magic purchase as well.

Clarion-Ledger

Edited April 18, 2006 by tombarnes

[Citydweller]

High-rises are not inevitable - the communities have a choice. Ocean Springs, Pass Christian, Bay St Louis and Waveland are all places that have great support for lower buildings. They don't mind density, but of a height that is appropraite to the special place that they are.

Paris has density without the need for high-rises - some communities (like Bilioxi) will chose to overconcentrate their density on the beach, others will chose to spread the density in a morer walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income way.