Developers eye casino at Diamondhead
By MARY PEREZ - meperez@sunherald.com
Diamondhead Casino Corp. has a letter of intent to sell 25 of its 404 acres along Interstate 10 at Diamondhead for a casino.
The agreement was signed Friday to sell the land for $1 million per acre to Phoenix Gaming and Entertainment LLC. Diamondhead Casino president Deborah Vitale said the casino development company has until Jan. 31 to enter into a definitive agreement to buy the land.
An additional 15 acres of land will be turned over to Phoenix for roads, green space, buffers and possibly a parking garage.
The deadline can be extended, but she said, “That puts the pressure on both of us to move it along.”
The entire property is zoned for casinos and has two miles of frontage on the Bay of St. Louis and 10 miles along the interstate. The exact site of the 25 acres that will be sold hasn’t yet been determined, she said, but this would be the first casino directly off the interstate.
“My goal as I told the planning commission is to get a casino up and running as fast as possible,” said Vitale. “This will get the county the revenue it needs. It will create a lot of jobs,”
She recently presented conceptual plans for a casino to the Hancock County Planning Commission.
James Ahearn, chief executive officer of Phoenix Gaming, said they will come in with their own plans. He isn’t sure of the size and the shape of the casino resort, but he said it will have a hotel, restaurant and other amenities.
“We like everything we see about the project,” he said, including the proximity to the interstate and the ability to draw both travelers and the local population.
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