Biloxi Casino With 1,300-Room Hotel Gains Site Approval From Mississippi Gaming Commission
Posted on: July 18, 2025, 08:11h.
Last updated on: July 18, 2025, 08:11h.
- A casino project in Biloxi is moving forward
- The Mississippi gaming resort development is where the Tivoli Hotel stood
- Hurricane Katrina destroyed the historic hotel in 2005
The Biloxi casino market could be crowding, as one development moves closer to breaking ground and a second project could follow in the coming years.
This week, the Mississippi Gaming Commission approved Biloxi Capital’s request to build and operate a casino resort on the property where the historic Tivoli Hotel stood until it was destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Biloxi Capital, led by Mississippi real estate developer Daniel Conwill, in 2007 purchased the 32-acre property located just west of the Biloxi Yacht Club and Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art at 420 Beach Blvd for $40 million.
State gaming regulators gave Conwill their blessing to move forward with his $700 million plan to bring a 13th casino floor to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. His plan includes a casino spanning 100,000 square feet, featuring 2,000 slot machines and 75 table games, as well as a sportsbook. The resort is to include 1,300 guestrooms, convention space, and other typical amenities like restaurants and bars.
Conwill is the owner and operator of Felix’s Restaurant Group, which has restaurants in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. He was previously the head of investment banking at Seaport Global Securities.
If Conwill’s casino comes to fruition, a 14th casino on the Gulf Coast could come several years later. A Tennessee businessman has pitched a casino with 900 slots, 35 tables, and a sportsbook at 360 Beach Blvd, just west of Harrah’s. Along with an 11-story, 300-room hotel, the project would include a full-scale replica of the Tullis-Toledano Manor that was also lost in Hurricane Katrina.
The Tullis casino, however, remains tied up in tidelands litigation.
Tivoli Casino
With the site approved, Biloxi Capital will now present the Mississippi Gaming Commission with further plans as it begins the casino licensing process. Conwill will need to demonstrate he has financing in place, and key members of the development team will undergo suitability reviews.
At 1,300 hotel rooms, Tivoli would be the second-largest hotel in Biloxi after Beau Rivage (1,740). It’s 100,000 square feet of gaming space would be the second largest behind Island View at 117,500.
Conwill has been trying to open a casino on the property for almost two decades. He’s finally moving forward after courts ruled against the state in its allegation that the city allowing Conwill to build a pier from the beach to his casino does not satisfy the state law that requires gaming floors to be within 800 feet of the 19-year mean high water line.
The Tivoli Hotel, which is “I love it” spelled almost correctly backwards, was built in the 1920s and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The luxury hotel had 64 guestrooms and a small gaming space in the lobby where slot machines rang.
The hotel fell into disrepair in the 1970s when it became the Trade Winds Hotel. It was later an apartment complex for transient guests before shuttering in the 1990s.
Does Biloxi Need More Casinos?
Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos aren’t exactly thriving. In fact, in-person gross gaming revenue has declined each year since 2021.
The casinos in Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, and Lakeshore won $1.608 billion in 2021. That slowed to $1.6 billion in 2022, to $1.589 billion in 2023, and to $1.582 billion last year.
Meanwhile, the casinos are experiencing significantly higher overhead in the post-COVID-19 economy.
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