Hopes remain for new Coast casino
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Thu May 21 07:35:06 2009 EDT
May 21, 2009 (The Sun Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX
News Network) --
Diamondhead Casino Corp. has appointed a new director, and said in a Securities
and Exchange Commission filing it is in discussions with investors who want to develop
a casino resort.
"There's a lot of strong interest at the table," said the company's vice
president, Gregory Harrison. The company intends to partner with a developer to
build a casino resort with a hotel, restaurants, retail and entertainment facilities
in Hancock County. Harrison said Casinos Austria International Holding Co., which
had a prior letter of intent with Diamondhead Casinos, is also still interested.
The new director is William Austin Lewis IV, owner of Lewis Asset Management
Corp., a New York investment-management company that is the general partner of the
Lewis Opportunity Fund and the LAM Opportunity Fund. Together the companies own
approximately 3.6 million common shares of Diamondhead Casino Corp., bringing the
board's stock ownership to more than 10 million shares.
"I look forward to working with the management team at Diamondhead, as well
as other interested parties, in developing this unique property and increasing the
value of every shareholder's investment," Lewis said.
Diamondhead Casino owns 404 acres along Interstate 10, with two miles of
waterfront on the Bay of St. Louis.
"We've definitely got the spot," said Deborah Vitale, president of Diamondhead
Casino Corp. Close to airports and right off Interstate 10, "the location is absolutely
recognized as being superb," she said. The property is also paid for and has no
liens or mortgages.
The current credit market precludes traditional financing and Vitale said
the developers with access to private funding are doing their homework before making
an investment.
"People we've been talking to before are back," she said, and she is eager
to start the project.
"The county really needs it," she said. With the cost of labor, concrete
and steel down, "this would be the time to at least be writing contracts."
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