D'IBERVILLE, MISS. — Development will begin soon for a new casino and resort project located on the Gulf Coast. CanCan Casino Resort & Spa will be a $450 million project that will be located just outside of Biloxi in D'Iberville. The project will be situated on 18 acres that will be visible from the main bridge connecting the two cities.
“You'll have to go past us to get into Biloxi, so we feel our location is excellent and has high visibility to the traffic going up and down Interstate 110,” says George Toth, president and CEO of CanCan Development.
CanCan Casino Resort & Spa will feature a 60,000-square-foot casino containing 1,800 slots, 46 table games, 16 live poker tables, and flexible meeting and showroom space — making it one of the top five largest casinos in the area. The project will include an French theme, which will extend to its French village, which will contain 90,000 square feet of entertainment and restaurant space space as well as a 300-room themed hotel. Other features of the project include an additional 250 hotel rooms and a freestanding wedding chapel.
The new casino project is expected to generate more than $260 million a year in gross revenue. According to Toth, the Gulf Coast gaming market lost 2,500 casino hotel rooms and 5 million annual visitors on account of Hurricane Katrina and the numbers have yet to return. However, the area's infrastructure is rebuilt and the commercial market continues to mount its comeback.
Last year, Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL & Associates and Atlanta-based Forum Development Group completed The Promenade, a 700,000-square-foot power center located at the interchange of interstates 10 and 110. Anchors at the center include Target, Kohl's, Best Buy and PetSmart. The area's hospitality sector saw activity last year with the completion of a new 125-room Courtyard by Marriott located within the Lakeview Village development.
“The market has the potential to get back those visitors,” Toth says.
Leo A Daly will serve as project architect. Groundbreaking is expected to occur in the early part of this year, and construction will take approximately two years to complete.
— Coleman Wood