Up and running
Up and running
Gulf Coast sees its Beau come back and a 'Grand" reopening
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is beginning to look more like a casino market again.
In mid-August, Harrah's Entertainment reopened its Grand Casino Biloxi, becoming the sixth casino property to come back online since the deadly and devastating Hurricane Katrina nearly one year ago. At the end of August, on the one-year anniversary of Katrina, MGM Mirage's Beau Rivage reopened as well.
Harrah's opened the Grand as a temporary casino, with 811 slots, 28 table games, 500 renovated hotel rooms, a 16,000-square-foot spa, a golf course and a number of restaurants and eateries. The property now resides on the north side of U.S. 90-rather than the south, beachside of the road-where casino barges were pummeled in the storm.
"We've completely renovated and remodeled all of the facility as well as expanded part of it," said Harrah's Central Division President Anthony Sanfilippo. "It has the feeling of being built from the ground up."
The Grand's reopening also put 1,525 Mississippians back to work. Harrah's officials have indicated a more elaborate, permanent facility will be constructed at a later time, with some reports indicating the company will invest over $1 billion into the Gulf Coast market.
Meanwhile, the Beau Rivage kicked off its Aug. 29 grand reopening with a symbolic employee processional where the property's 3,800 workers paraded up the property's main drive to the porte cochere for a ceremonial "door opening."
"For us to do anything other than to rebuild like we have would have been a sin," Terry Lanni, chief executive officer of MGM Mirage, told the Biloxi Sun Herald. "We're here, we're pleased to be back and we love Mississippi."
The revamped Beau has 93 table games, 2,100 slots, 38 video poker games. It also added a new poker room with its own bank of safe deposit boxes for gamblers. The property's 1,740-room hotel was redesigned as well.
The Beau Rivage was the largest and most expensive resort-casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast before Katrina. Originally built by Steve Wynn at a cost of $800 million, an additional $550 million had been invested by MGM Mirage after acquiring it. Reports have indicated that MGM Mirage's reinvestments in the Beau will top $1 billion as well when complete.
Additionally, the Harrison County Planning Commission has given its approval for a 50-acre casino site for Isle of Capri in Bay St. Louis. The site, located on the Bay St. Louis, border on Kiln-DeLisle Road and lies just south of Interstate 10, would be the first outside the incorporated area of Harrison County. In June, the Mississippi Gaming Commission ruled it a legal gaming site.
It will now serve as the foundation for the proposed $300 million Pine Hills Isle of Capri Casino.
"We'd like to break ground this year, if at all possible," Richard Meister, vice president of construction and design for Isle of Capri Casinos, told the Associated Press.
The five casino properties that had reopened prior to the Grand and Beau Rivage-the Imperial Palace, New Palace, Isle of Capri Biloxi, Treasure Bay and Boomtown-have fared very well, and have brought a renewed sense of promise to the Gulf Coast gaming market.
For July, the five properties contributed $74.7 million in gaming revenue, compared to the $101.7 million mark the 12-casino market hit as a whole in July of last year. The state gaming revenues, despite missing seven properties, was off only 6.3 percent in July to $227 million compared with $237.6 million last July. It hasn't hurt that Mississippi's river markets, including Tunica and Vicksburg, have fared well, posting a 9.1 percent increase in revenues to $148.3 million.
"The Gulf Coast results remain impressive considering the constrained capacity in the Biloxi and Gulfport markets," Bear Stearns gaming analyst Joe Greff said in a note to investors.
"Revenues have grown sequentially since April, due, in part, to additional capacity from 500 slots added at Isle of Capri in late May and the opening of Treasure Bay and Boomtown at the end of June."
-Andy Holtmann
Gulf Coast sees its Beau come back and a 'Grand" reopening
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is beginning to look more like a casino market again.
In mid-August, Harrah's Entertainment reopened its Grand Casino Biloxi, becoming the sixth casino property to come back online since the deadly and devastating Hurricane Katrina nearly one year ago. At the end of August, on the one-year anniversary of Katrina, MGM Mirage's Beau Rivage reopened as well.
Harrah's opened the Grand as a temporary casino, with 811 slots, 28 table games, 500 renovated hotel rooms, a 16,000-square-foot spa, a golf course and a number of restaurants and eateries. The property now resides on the north side of U.S. 90-rather than the south, beachside of the road-where casino barges were pummeled in the storm.
"We've completely renovated and remodeled all of the facility as well as expanded part of it," said Harrah's Central Division President Anthony Sanfilippo. "It has the feeling of being built from the ground up."
The Grand's reopening also put 1,525 Mississippians back to work. Harrah's officials have indicated a more elaborate, permanent facility will be constructed at a later time, with some reports indicating the company will invest over $1 billion into the Gulf Coast market.
Meanwhile, the Beau Rivage kicked off its Aug. 29 grand reopening with a symbolic employee processional where the property's 3,800 workers paraded up the property's main drive to the porte cochere for a ceremonial "door opening."
"For us to do anything other than to rebuild like we have would have been a sin," Terry Lanni, chief executive officer of MGM Mirage, told the Biloxi Sun Herald. "We're here, we're pleased to be back and we love Mississippi."
The revamped Beau has 93 table games, 2,100 slots, 38 video poker games. It also added a new poker room with its own bank of safe deposit boxes for gamblers. The property's 1,740-room hotel was redesigned as well.
The Beau Rivage was the largest and most expensive resort-casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast before Katrina. Originally built by Steve Wynn at a cost of $800 million, an additional $550 million had been invested by MGM Mirage after acquiring it. Reports have indicated that MGM Mirage's reinvestments in the Beau will top $1 billion as well when complete.
Additionally, the Harrison County Planning Commission has given its approval for a 50-acre casino site for Isle of Capri in Bay St. Louis. The site, located on the Bay St. Louis, border on Kiln-DeLisle Road and lies just south of Interstate 10, would be the first outside the incorporated area of Harrison County. In June, the Mississippi Gaming Commission ruled it a legal gaming site.
It will now serve as the foundation for the proposed $300 million Pine Hills Isle of Capri Casino.
"We'd like to break ground this year, if at all possible," Richard Meister, vice president of construction and design for Isle of Capri Casinos, told the Associated Press.
The five casino properties that had reopened prior to the Grand and Beau Rivage-the Imperial Palace, New Palace, Isle of Capri Biloxi, Treasure Bay and Boomtown-have fared very well, and have brought a renewed sense of promise to the Gulf Coast gaming market.
For July, the five properties contributed $74.7 million in gaming revenue, compared to the $101.7 million mark the 12-casino market hit as a whole in July of last year. The state gaming revenues, despite missing seven properties, was off only 6.3 percent in July to $227 million compared with $237.6 million last July. It hasn't hurt that Mississippi's river markets, including Tunica and Vicksburg, have fared well, posting a 9.1 percent increase in revenues to $148.3 million.
"The Gulf Coast results remain impressive considering the constrained capacity in the Biloxi and Gulfport markets," Bear Stearns gaming analyst Joe Greff said in a note to investors.
"Revenues have grown sequentially since April, due, in part, to additional capacity from 500 slots added at Isle of Capri in late May and the opening of Treasure Bay and Boomtown at the end of June."
-Andy Holtmann
