Proposed Bay casino could be
flashier than Beau
Where I grew up, in farm country, we had a saying about
double-edged swords, "high cotton good, high cotton bad."
That comes to mind looking over the latest front-runner to
become the 13th casino on the Mississippi Coast.
Casino World, an upstart subsidiary of Europa Cruise Corp.,
untangled itself from its latest legal snare earlier this month
when the state Supreme Court upheld permits issued five years
ago by the state Commission on Marine Resources and the
Mississippi Gaming Commission.
The battle is far from won, however.
A federal judge last summer said Casino World and two other
casino proposals must obtain environmental impact statements
to measure the cumulative effects of the developments on
wetlands and aquatic life.
That could take up to two years, and local citizens groups and
environmental organizations are ready to fight the development
at every turn.
Normally, the delay would be terrible news to casino
developers. Time is money, and development proposals
flounder most often because they can't get the deal done
quickly enough to satisfy investors who, as a pack, have the
attention span of gnats.
But in the case of Casino World, the wait could be the
project's saving grace.
If the development was ready to roll tomorrow, investors
probably wouldn't be.
Europa has time to let the national economy get back on track
and for the Coast market to grow closer to the point that it can
support another major addition to the market.
That's probably Europa President Deborah Vitale has in mind.
From a business perspective, the proposal has a lot going for
it.
Europa's pluses
Europa owns 404 acres along St. Louis Bay for its resort with
a theme that Europa is keeping a big secret.
Vitale said to expect a first-class entertainment complex, a
championship golf course and RV center and, probably, one of
the Coast's largest hotels to draw vacationers and
conventioneers into the market.
"What the Mississippi Coast is lacking, first and foremost, right
now is hotel rooms and convention space so as to attract
conventioneers," she said.
Biloxi's Beau Rivage is a fair comparison to what Vitale
described.
The Beau cost $750 million to build two years ago. Europa
expects to spend a mere $400 million, but the Beau made a lot
of expensive mistakes.
Not long after the Beau opened in March 1999, Wall Street
grew finicky about putting major money into casino
developments as the economy sagged.
Drop in tourism may help
The hard downturn in tourism and air travel to Las Vegas since
Sept. 11, however, might benefit the Casino World
development.
Analysts predict it could take a year or more for Las Vegas to
recover. The turn of events has shown a great weakness for
the built-out fly-in market.
In the meantime, drive-in markets such as Mississippi have
weathered the economy and the terrorist attacks in relatively
good shape.
Don't think far-sighted investors haven't noticed that.
Beyond that, in the Coast drive-in market, Casino World
would enjoy a monopoly in the "drive-by" market, a plum that's
even sweeter.
Europa would own the first casino situated immediately off
Interstate 10 near Bay St. Louis.
Casino Magic Bay St. Louis has kept that locals market all to
itself. Europa's market study found that more than 30,000
two-axle vehicles pass by its property on the interstate every
day, Vitale said.
It's a region primed for growth, as the sprawl of New Orleans
moves ever closer.
That's part of the reason it was considered, at least to some
degree, by the New Orleans Saints for a new stadium. Others
speculate that an international airport and a NASCAR track
are on the region's horizon.
As for casinos, more than one expert has said that if there were
no requirement for them to locate on the water, all of them
would be built near interstate exits.
Casino World has an existing exit at Diamondhead. By
comparison, Casino Magic Bay St. Louis is quite a jaunt from
I-10, demanding careful attention to billboards and patience for
narrow country roads.
Environmental impact
The site's problems, however, could be larger than business
location and capital. The environmental impact statement,
according to environmentalists, will show that the site is
unsuitable.
Investors would be scared off by the confederation of
organizations that have shown they are willing to tie the
development up in court for as long as it takes.
Among the opponents are Bay St. Louis Community
Association, Preserve Diamondhead Quality Inc., Gulf Islands
Conservancy and Concerned Citizens to Protect the Isles and
Point.
Europa is primed for the fight. Las Vegas casino giant
Mandalay Bay wasn't. As its money dried up with the national
economy last summer, Mandalay Bay nixed its plans for a Bay
St. Louis casino.
Pulling up stakes, however, is not an option for Europa, said
Vitale.
The company sold off its cruise ships to concentrate on
gambling, she said.
"We have every intention of going forward," she said.
If environmentalists and others against the new casino relax
their opposition, Casino World may be a development whose
time has come.
Joey Bunch can be reached at 896-2367 or at
jbunch@sunherald.com. |
