Biloxi Planning Commission Approves Black Marlin Casino at Veterans Avenue

The Biloxi Planning Commission has approved a rezoning request for three parcels at US 90 and Veterans Avenue, paving the way for the proposed Black Marlin Casino. The vote moves the long-planned development forward to city council review and state gaming regulators.

The Biloxi Planning Commission agreed to rezone three properties east of Veterans Avenue across from the Big Play Entertainment Center. Through his company, RW Development, local developer Ray Wooldridge has been trying to secure a casino resort on the site for over 15 years.

His persistence might soon finally pay off.

RW Development successfully secured waterfront zoning for its property north of US 90, a key requirement for a Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) casino license. The developer has partnered on the project with Kentucky-based Encompass Develop Design and Construct, whose past clients include Caesars Entertainment, Churchill Downs, and Jack Entertainment.

The Biloxi Planning Commission also approved RW Development’s request to remove 25 live oak trees and three magnolia trees on the 11-acre property.

An arborist told the Planning Commission that 18 of the trees were in poor condition, seven were in fair condition, and three were in good condition. RW Development must plant 209 new trees or pay into the city’s tree mitigation fund to offset the removals.

Project Details

The plan for the Black Marlin Casino includes a 300-room hotel with restaurants, bars, meeting space, and 668 parking spaces. The casino floor would measure 43,800 square feet and feature 1,100 slot machines, 24 live dealer table games, and a sportsbook.

To meet legal waterfront requirements, Wooldridge is offering to construct a $1 million handicap-accessible pier south of US 90, named the Veterans Avenue Pier.

Under Mississippi gaming law, a casino must be located on or contiguous to navigable water. Wooldridge previously argued that linking the mainland property to a public pier south of Highway 90 satisfied the waterfront requirement. That proposal sparked a years-long legal dispute with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office over public tidelands ownership.

After courts affirmed state authority over tidelands leases, cooperative efforts between Harrison County, the City of Biloxi, and the developer helped resolve the access framework.

With the Planning Commission approving the waterfront zoning reclassification, the Black Marlin Casino proposal now moves to the Biloxi City Council for review. If the Council approves the site plan, the project will go before the Mississippi Gaming Commission for site suitability and licensing determination.

Market Competition

If fully approved, Black Marlin would become the ninth casino operating in Biloxi and add to the 12 currently open across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Other Coast developments remain in various stages of planning, including proposed casino projects on the former Tivoli Hotel site and the nearby Tullis Gardens Hotel & Casino project, which plans to incorporate a full-scale replica of the historic Tullis-Toledano Manor destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.