Long Beach Casino Developer Amends Plans, Targets Harbor for Resort
Plans for a casino resort in Long Beach, Mississippi, have been modified by the developers.
A city leasing deal with Long Beach Harbor Resorts, LLC was unanimously approved by the Long Beach Board of Aldermen last November. Through the agreement, the casino entity would have been able to operate slot machines and table games across Beach Boulevard/US 90 on the former Kmart site by renting a portion of the city-owned property that is currently home to Parrish's Restaurant & Lounge.
However, since the lease was approved nine months ago, Long Beach Harbor Resorts has not signed it. Presenting a new proposal, the corporation plans to build a casino south of the freeway that encircles Long Beach Harbor.
The Long Beach Aldermen reviewed the updated pitch last week. When they emerged from a private meeting, they said that there would be no vote on the potential loan of the marina for the casino resort since there were still too many unresolved issues.
Next month, the alderman promised to revisit the issue.
Changing Plans
Long Beach is northeast of Bay St. Louis, which is home to numerous casinos, and southwest of Gulfport and Biloxi. To boost its economy and raise money for local taxes, Long Beach has long yearned for its own casino on the Gulf Coast.
The goal of Long Beach Harbor Resorts and its planned Southern Sand Casino was to put an end to those fantasies and make them come true. Jim Parrish, a local businessman who owns The Inn at Magnolia Alley in Bay St. Louis and Parrish's Restaurant, is the leader of Long Beach Harbor Resorts.
The regulatory requirements of a 40K-square-foot casino and a 300-room hotel were part of Parrish's Southern Sand Casino concept. Long Beach Harbor Resorts would have had to pay the city $500K annually for the first five years following the casino's opening, and then 1% of its yearly gross gaming revenue after that, in order for the city to grant a lease permitting such a commercial development.
“This is our opportunity,” Mayor George Bass said in November. “If we miss this, we may never get this opportunity again.”
Parrish did not provide a management company, an investment budget, or the potential number of slot machines and table games the casino would have. In the end, he gave up on the Kmart location in favor of Long Beach Harbor. Public information regarding the follow-up project is still limited.
Project Odds
In conversation with Long Beach Alderman-at-Large WXXV At Thursday's meeting, Donald Frazer stated the local government had a lot of unresolved questions. They covered the effects on boaters of the new casino facility.
It appeared from Frazer's remarks that the aldermen would consider renting Long Beach Harbor to the Southern Sand Casino.
"We’ve talked with the investors, and they are going to supply additional parking, even closer than where the current boat parking is. So, we’re still working back and forth — there are some questions we still need answered before we put it to a vote,” Frazer said.
The project would next be presented to the Mississippi Gaming Commission for review if a lease agreement is reached between the Long Beach Aldermen and Long Beach Harbor Resorts.
