MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST | (Biloxi, Gulfport, and other MS Coastal Cities)

[Red UM Rebel]

It would be very nice to see the Isle build a mega resort right there on the point. I assume the land north of 90 is the Point Cadet Plaza area. That is very interesting info BLX, and it really does make some sense. Do you think if they were to rebuild another Isle they would go after four/five diamond award?

[Red UM Rebel]

~from WLOX
LINK


After some setbacks from Hurricane Katrina, a Biloxi beachfront condo is open for business. Friday, community members helped the owners of the 22-story Beau View Condominiums celebrate its grand opening.

According to Davis Companies, 90 of the 99 units put up for sale have been sold, and two thirds of the buyers will be living in their condos. Company president Stefan Davis said he looks forward to the next construction phase, which could include two or three more towers.

"We've realized where we have some tweaking to do within the building and within the site, and we're in the process of making those modifications. And we're really excited about the rest of the development," Davis said.

As part of the celebration, Davis Companies made a $20,000 donation to the USO.

[Red UM Rebel]

Here is an excel file I have on the Coast and development. I would love additional comments on things I need to add. Hopefully this works well.....

[Velastor]

There was an article in the Sunherald today about the Palace seeing an increase in visitors since the bridge opened. I'm wondering if these are new people or people that are using the bridge instead of I-110. Would be interesting to see if the IP and Beau have noticed a decrease in visitors.

[Red UM Rebel]

Velastor, I would bet it is both. The bridge opening was national news because my uncle in Alaska called me about it. It really is a true signal that the Coast is once again open for business. I would also bet though there are several people that have been back to the Coast since Katrina and were just waiting on the bridge to open again to stay at Palace, Isle, etc. so they could have easy access to Ocean Springs.

I think BLX would have the best answer though. BLX your thoughts? (Do you think if they were to rebuild another Isle they would go after four/five diamond award?)

[Red UM Rebel]

School to be built at Tradition
By MELISSA M. SCALLAN
mmscallan@sunherald.com

LINK

GULFPORT --Ralph Noonkester was president of William Carey College in Hattiesburg in the 1970s when he realized the school needed to expand and purchased land from the Gulf Coast Military Academy on U.S. 90 in Gulfport.

Noonkester, now president emeritus of William Carey University, was on hand Tuesday when officials unveiled plans for the school's new campus at Tradition Properties on Mississippi 67.

"We're excited to have reached these important milestones and look forward to seeing these drawings turned into reality," said Tommy King, president of the university. "We believe that the Tradition community vision, amenities and residential options will provide a significant advantage as we recruit students, faculty and staff to the university."

Tradition is a planned community that will have homes, businesses, schools and hospitals on nearly 5,000 acres.

Even before Hurricane Katrina, the university's board of trustees decided to sell the beachfront property and move to a location that could accommodate more students, said Jerry Bracey, dean of the Gulf Coast campus. The storm destroyed the campus, and students are attending classes in trailers on the property.

The university has 50 acres at Tradition and initially will use 30 acres and save the remaining 20 for future expansion. The campus will be built in three phases.

The groundbreaking for Phase I of the construction will begin in March and will cover classroom buildings, an administration building and 550 parking spaces along Mississippi 67.

The two three-story buildings will be designed in a classical architectural style and will have 4,700 square feet of open-air porches.

The campus is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009 and will accommodate 750 students. The current Coast campus has more than 600 students, nearly a 10 percent increase over pre-Katrina numbers.

"I think this is going to be the Ivy League of the Coast," said Gerald Blessey, president of Tradition. "Education and economic development go hand in hand. Today, William Carey University takes a broad step in providing higher education opportunities to our youth."



~photo from Sun Herald also

[Muskavon]

Originally Posted by Red UM Rebel

Here is an excel file I have on the Coast and development. I would love additional comments on things I need to add. Hopefully this works well.....

Good Job Rebel. That's what I've been looking for...for this thread. Streamline it like the other city threads. Hopefully you guys will get some talls somewhere along the way soon.

[Red UM Rebel]

~WLOX
by Danielle Thomas

The road to improving traffic flow on Popp's Ferry Bridge will take a major step forward this week. This Friday engineers are scheduled to begin an environmental impact study, a requirement before any building plans can begin. The study will also look at traffic flow.

According to Biloxi city officials 20,000 cars use the Popp's Ferry Bridge each day and the drawbridge opens on average 10 times a day for marine traffic. City officials say that creates a safety hazard during a hurricane evacuation.

In 2004, Mayor A.J. Holloway secured $2 million from Congress to determine whether a new bridge or adding another span is the best way to keep traffic moving.

Mayor Holloway said, "Now we're getting ready to go forward with this project. Hopefully doing a new bridge on Popp's Ferry, or either a new span and maybe have to come back and heighten the other side of the bridge. Whichever way we do it, I hope we don't have to close traffic on Popp's Ferry for any length of time."

Holloway says because of the location of the channel the bridge wouldn't be very high.

"It cannot be much higher because we don't have the span to go across, but it can get up to where the coal barges will go underneath it without having to open the bridge."

Holloway says he expects it will take about 10 years to build a new bridge. But adding an additional span next to the current bridge probably wouldn't take as long. Either way, he says the cost will be about $50 million.

[Red UM Rebel]

Although I am disappointed it does not already have its own site, I have noticed that a construction cam is now up!

It will not be too long (three years) until it is finished

[Velastor]

Yeah the cam will be nice for keeping up with how construction is going....from the pictures it seems like they have a small crew doing the work atm. I wonder what the big pipes are that are sticking up in the pictures. My only guess would be drills for setting up some foundation.

[Velastor]

Nevermind about the small crew.....I just found that there are 2 cameras....it seems like most of the work atm is in front of the old Magic.

[Red UM Rebel]

I would bet it is the base of the new hotel. It will be fun seeing the project develop. What is striking is how huge the footprint is. It is going to be a huge development!

[Velastor]

I can't wait for the buildings to start taking shape.

I wonder what they are gonna do with the parking garage under the magic tower. Atm it doesnt look like they have any roads in the works to allow people to park under there.

[Red UM Rebel]

I am not sure, but I think the Magic never used that parking except for employee and valet. It would make sense if they started to use it though except it could be inconvenient to the normal flow of traffic.

[BLX 101]

Originally Posted by Red UM Rebel

Velastor, I would bet it is both. The bridge opening was national news because my uncle in Alaska called me about it. It really is a true signal that the Coast is once again open for business. I would also bet though there are several people that have been back to the Coast since Katrina and were just waiting on the bridge to open again to stay at Palace, Isle, etc. so they could have easy access to Ocean Springs.

I think BLX would have the best answer though. BLX your thoughts? (Do you think if they were to rebuild another Isle they would go after four/five diamond award?)

Sorry about the hiatus. I spent the previous weekend in Georgia for a wedding with minimal amount of sleep. Working grave shifts, I'm just starting to recoup.

Unfortunately, the bridge's opening didn't have the effect that the Isle was hoping for. Until the next reporting of revenues, we won't really know for sure but based on visual traffic on the casino floor, it hasn't had a great effect. Until it's remodeling and the completion of Margaritaville, the Isle's promotion department will have to be very creative in attracting both new and old guests. There was a national fishing tournament this past weekend that should have helped both the Isle and the Palace. The turn out was huge. As a result of Katrina, it's been three years since the tournament was last held here.

[Red UM Rebel]

That is a shame, I have a friend who's boyfriend is a chef at Minion, and he said their business has picked up ten fold. I can only hope good things for the Isle.

[BLX 101]

The condos that are most likely to begin construction next are listed below. They each have virtual tours on their web sites. Notice the subtle changes in the facade of the Revelay comparing the renderings on gcid.biz and revelay.com. The first tower of South Beach is now pouring concrete for the eighth of nine floors and Avalon has resumed site work on its conversion from Gulf Towers across from Beau Rivage.


http://avalonbiloxi.com/

http://www.revelay.com/

http://bacaranbay.com/

http://www.bienvillecondos.com

http://www.vuecrescente.com/

http://gcid.biz/

[Red UM Rebel]

Thanks for the update! I took the avalon off the first page because I could no longer access the website, it is great to hear that it is still going forward!!! I noticed that about Revelay too, they really scaled it back. Do you still think Vieux will become a casino?

Ocean Club Biloxi has also updated their web page
http://www.oceanclubatbiloxi.com/index.htm

[BLX 101]

The four pods that will contain the unusal and unique art work of George Ohr has been erected on the beach front campus-like setting designed by the unusual and unique international architecture Frank Gehry. When complete, millions will come from all over the world to experience this marvel.


Posted on Tue, Oct. 30, 2007
The Pods are coming! The Pods are coming!


-- The following piece appeared Oct. 25, on the House & Garden Web site blog, "The Itinerant Urbanist," by Karrie Jacobs, houseandgarden.com/trends/blogs/urbanist, with before and after pictures of an Ohr Pod on the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum site before Hurricane Katrina and an after Katrina picture of the museum site.
The photo above shows an Ohr Pod in pristine condition being installed on the site of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in Biloxi, Miss., a few days before Hurricane Katrina came along and washed away much of the Gulf Coast. As you may be able to tell from the peculiar geometry of the Pod, the museum was designed by Frank Gehry, and inspired by George Ohr, aka The Mad Potter of Biloxi.

Anyway, I was down in Biloxi in April, examining the ruins of the museum, and working on a story for the relaunch issue of American Craft Magazine about whether the Ohr-O'Keefe would indeed be rebuilt. Back in the spring, before the museum got its $15 million insurance settlement and worked out some things with FEMA, nothing was certain. But now, reconstruction is imminent. Replacement Pods are due to arrive from the fabricator, A. Zahner Sheet Metal Co. in Kansas City, any day now and a celebration marking the start of reconstruction is planned for Dec. 1.

[BLX 101]

Originally Posted by Red UM Rebel

Do you still think Vieux will become a casino?

Absolutely!!