By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in Community Development, the City Council approved the preliminary plats for two new single family subdivision developments. The two new developments, to be located in the Woolmarket area, will provide 217 new, market rate, single family lots. Also this week, the Development Review Committee, reviewed site plans for a new […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in Community Development, the Development Review Committee approved (with minor modifications) the site plan for the 12,000 sq. ft. professional and retail center to be located at the northwest corner of Lorraine and Woolmarket Roads. Also this week, we completed the plans review for the addition to the Biloxi […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the city council voted unanimously to approve the vacation of Camille Street, between Reynoir and Croesus Streets, and to accept the dedication of a portion of Croesus Street at Beach Boulevard for the purpose of making access improvements to the traffic intersection. This approval also included a […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the department issued the demolition permit for the former Santa Maria Del Mar Structure located on Beach Boulevard. The demolition will include removing everything except the superstructure frame. The sale of the property to Barrington Development LLC, was completed last week, and will allow the developers to proceed […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in Community Development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve an application from Pegasus Development Group LLC, for the vacation of Camille Street between Reynoir and Croesus. The commission also approved the dedication of land, from the same developer, at the south end of Croesus, for the purpose of […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the Development Review Committee was presented with the preliminary site plan for the proposed La Quinta Hotel to be located at the northwest corner of Beach Boulevard and Hopkins. The new hotel will be four stories in height and will have 78 rooms. Also at DRC, […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in Community Development, commercial construction continues on the Hyatt Place Hotel, Casino Magic, St. Michael’s New Life Parish Center, Walmart Neighborhood Market, First Pentecostal Church, Memorial Hospital Medical Office, Dr. Diaz Surgical Center, and Butler Homes Sales and Construction Office. Final touches are being put on the MGM Park […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This Week in community development, the city council voted unanimously to support the construction of the Back Bay Boulevard extension. This approval will allow the owner of the Biloxi Boardwalk Marina to move forward with the development of Biloxi Pointe. The proposed  $260 Million Dollar development project will include a casino, hotel, […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted to recommend approval for preliminary plat applications for two new single family residential developments, and an expansion to an existing subdivision. The first application includes 96 acres located on the west side Hudson-Krohn Road and will provide 131 new market rate homes. […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the building division issued a building permit for the Walmart Gas Station to be located on Popp’s Ferry Road in front of the proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market, which was permitted last week. The new Market and Gas Station are scheduled to be completed in March 2016. Also […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director The past two weeks in Community Development, the city council voted to approve a conditional use application for the first Short-Term Rental property to be located in a single family structure. The structure located at 156 Briarfield Avenue, was eligible for short term rental because it is located in a district zoned […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development construction continues to wind down on the MGM Stadium, The Boomtown RV Park, and Saint Michael’s New Life Parish Center. Construction is also continuing on the Casino Magic Hotel, The Hyatt Place Hotel, Baja Beach Biloxi Restaurant, The Lugger  Restaurant (formerly the Hook-Up), and Jimmy John’s Restaurant. […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted to approve an application from IP Casino for the vacation and realignment of the north end of Fayard Street at Bayview Avenue. The project as proposed will remove the offset intersection that currently exists, and realign this area of Fayard Street to […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, Boomtown Casino is putting the finishing touches on their new recreational vehicle park located at the corner of Bay View Avenue and Main Street, This new park will have 50 RV sites complete with full utility hookups. A certificate of occupancy should be issued early next week. […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the Biloxi Planning Commission conducted a workshop to discuss possible options concerning Short Term Rentals. Among the options discussed, was the possibility of removing Short Term Rental from all property currently zoned residential. Under the current Land Development Ordinance, Short Term Rental is prohibited in districts zoned […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in Community Development, two of our development projects are nearing completion, and should receive final certificates of occupancy early next week. Arbor Landing Apartments, a $23 million dollar, 218 unit complex on Popp’s Ferry Road is striping the parking area and finalizing their landscaping in order to obtain final approval. […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the city council voted to approve the vacation of the northern 500’ of Anglada Street. This approval will allow the IP Casino Resort to move forward with their plans for a new and improved parking lot. The proposed parking lot will be fully landscaped and will […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, the Development Review Committee met with representatives of the IP Casino resort to review plans to re-align the north end of Fayard Street at Bayview. This new alignment would reduce traffic confusion created by the offset of the existing intersection, with the access drive to IP. The […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in community development, applications were submitted to the Development Review Committee for 2 major economic development projects in the downtown district. The first is an application for the conversion and redevelopment of the former Santa Maria Del Mar Apartment building into a 160 unit luxury hotel, with a swimming […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, The Architectural/Historical Review Commission voted unanimously to approve the design for the exterior improvements to the former Casino Magic Structure. AHRC approval was necessary since the property is located in the Point Cadet Historic District. Phase 1 of the development will have 373 hotel […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve an application from IP Casino Resort to vacate the northern 507’ of Anglada Street, south of Bayview. The application was approved on the condition that IP would provide an 18 foot wide paved connector road from Fayard street  to […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director The economic development report for this week will actually cover the past two week period. The building plans review for the New Walmart Neighborhood Market on Popp’s Ferry Road has been completed. The contractor is hoping to start the project before the end of this month, with a projected completion date of […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council voted to approve Reunion Place Subdivision-Phase 1. The new development is located on the north side of Brodie Road east of Cedar Lake, and when complete will have 38 single family homes and 46 townhomes. Phase 1 will include 8 single family houses […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, Hidden Springs received DEQ approval, and obtained the site preparation permit for the proposed 411 lot single family phased subdivision to be located in north Biloxi off Woodland Hills Drive. Infrastructure plans are being finalized and should be submitted to our engineering department sometime next week. Also […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the expansion of the Boomtown Casino RV park. The 49 proposed  RV sites in the expanded park were designed around the existing trees and will have extensive landscaping. Each site will have individual utility hookups for electricity, water and […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development the Biloxi City Council voted unanimously to add the former Casino Magic property and structure to the tax abatement district. This action will allow the developers of the property to apply for a tax abatement on any improvements made to the existing structure that will increase the […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development came the announcement that Tulane University will be relocating from Edgewater Mall to Edgewater Village, into the former Books-A-Million location. This relocation will add  a solid anchor to Edgewater Village, allowing Tulane to double in size, and will free up space at the mall for additional retail […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the final building permit was issued to Shaggy’s Restaurant to  complete the new kitchen and deck addition.  Also issued this week was a building permit for renovations to the Golden Nugget Casino, to include the addition of new restrooms. Building plans were received for a new […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the subdivision of a lot in the downtown area for a “to be announced” commercial development. The approval recommendation will now go before the City Council for final consideration. Also this week, the Development Review Committee […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, Our department issued permits for a new medical office for Dr. Michael Diaz to be located at 936 Tommy Munro Drive, and a renovation permit for Hard Rock Casino to accomodate a new Pie Five Pizza Restaurant. Also this week, we completed the plans review for […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, we received the building plans for the Marshall’s Crematory to be located on Veterans Drive. The crematory is phase 1 of a 2-phase project which will also include Marshall’s Funeral Home. Building plans were received this week for 2 new single family houses. Also this week, […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the department issued separate permits for the fire sprinkler system and the fire alarm system for Casino Magic. Building plans were received this week for an office building on Tommy Munro Drive for D. R. Horton Homebuilders. Plans were also received for a new commercial warehouse Structure […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a preliminary subdivision plat for the proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market to be located on the former Ellzey property on Popp’s Ferry Road. The commission also voted unanimously to approve a conditional use application for a self-serve gas station […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the department issued a repair permit for the interior of the former Casino Magic structure. The valuation for the permit is $6.3 million dollars, and includes the existing building/structure only. A repair permit for exterior repairs was issued earlier this year with a valuation of $4 […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, a demolition permit was issued to remove the remaining façade of the Hutter Building in the Vieux Marche’. The fenced-in remnant of the structure has been an eyesore in the downtown area since the building burned in January of 2011. This demo was necessary to make way […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council conducted a public hearing on “Short Term Rental”. Citizens were asked to offer their comments and recommendations concerning owners renting their single family houses for periods of less than 30 days. During the meeting, six (6) speakers offered comments in favor of short term […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development the city council voted 5-2 to approve the preliminary plat for a new 88 lot single family residential subdivision to be located on Old Highway 67, north of Woolmarket Road. With this approval, the project engineer will begin designing the infrastructure plans for the project. Also this […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a text change for the establishment of a city tree committee. The planning commission recommendation will now go before the city council for final consideration. If approved by the city council, the committee would be composed of seven […]

By Jerry Creel Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council voted to uphold the recommendation of the planning commission to deny a change in zoning for several parcels of property located on Beach Boulevard between Hopkins Boulevard and Porter Avenue. At a previous meeting, the city council voted to approve an application for […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council voted unanimously to approved the zoning change for property located at 950 and 956 Beach Boulevard from Residential Multi-Family (RM-10), to Community Business (CB). This change was necessary in order to allow a proposed La Quinta Inn & Suites. The design […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, single family residential home construction continues to thrive. We received 19 sets of plans for new single family houses to be constructed in locations throughout the city. Construction sites include: (4) for Goose Pointe, (4) for Mill Creek, Taylor Oaks (3), Hengen Place (2), Rock Creek (2), […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council voted to approve a charge to the community development staff to conduct a public hearing before the planning commission for the purpose of seeking public input on the establishment of a tree advisory committee. The recommended proposal would consider the establishment […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission conducted public hearings to hear five applications for “Short-Term Rental”. These particular cases involved five single family houses where the owners were requesting approval to rent or lease the properties for periods of less than 30 days.  Under the Land Development Ordinance, […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Development Review Committee reviewed a site plan for South Beach East. South Beach East will add an additional 60 units to the existing South Beach Condotel, located on the south side of Beach Boulevard next to Sharkheads. The DRC also reviewed a proposal […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, we are continuing to review the building construction plans for the proposed Hyatt Place Hotel, to be located on Beach Boulevard. We are also completing the building plans review for Dr. Michael Diaz’ Office and Surgical Center, to be constructed on Tommy Munro Boulevard. Earlier this […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the big news was the announcement that the old Santa Maria Del Mar senior housing structure on Beach Boulevard is being sold to the Barrington Group. The Barrington Group is the same developer who restored the White House Hotel. Possible uses proposed for the property include an […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, after only 9.5 months in 2014, our construction valuation total has surpassed our total for the entire 2013 calendar year. For 2013 our construction valuation was $104,037,322. With the building permits issued this week, our total valuation for 2014 is $105,469,200, with a number of proposed […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted to approve a new 2-lot medical and retail subdivision to be located on Jam Lane. The proposed development will include 13,000 square feet of retail space and 2000 square feet of medical. The Planning Commission also voted to approve […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, we received the final site information for Sal & Mookie’s Restaurant. The actual building permit should be issued in the next few days. Construction crews at the Reef Restaurant are working diligently to finish and open before “Cruisin’ the Coast” begins this week. The new location […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the building plan reviews were completed for the $1.3 million dollar expansion and improvements to the Biloxi Regional Hospital’s Outpatient Facility. Plan reviews were also completed for 5 new single family houses to be constructed in the new Rock Creek Subdivision on Lorraine Road. […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a zoning change from NB Neighborhood Business, to CB Commercial Business for the former Gulf Regional Hospital on Debuys Road, to be converted to a 171 room hotel. The planning commission’s recommendation will now go before the […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the news is about New Single Family Residential Homes. During this week, we have issued 3 building permits for new houses, and are reviewing plans for 4 more. Since the fiscal year began on October 1, 2013, we have issued 87 building permits for […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Planning Commission voted 10-2 to approve an application to change the zoning for property located at 950 and 956 Beach Boulevard from RM-10, Low Density Multi-Family Residential to CB-Commercial Business. The purpose of the request is to allow a LaQuinta Inn and Suites Hotel to be […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the department issued the building permit for the new “Blind Tiger Restaurant”, which will be located on Beach Boulevard between Shaggy’s and the Blue Crab House Restaurants. The Blind Tiger currently has a very successful location in Bay Saint Louis and the owner expects even greater […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council voted to approve an application for conditional use, for short term rental in the “Downtown Zoned District”, for a townhome located at 133 Reynoir Street. This will allow the owners to rent the townhome for periods of less than 30 days. In other […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, we saw the grand opening of the White House Hotel after a year of painstaking restoration. Also this week is the opening of the New Maritime and Seafood Museum. Both are beautiful additions to our tourism inventory of attractions. Building permits were issued this week for […]

This column was unavailable last week. By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development comes an announcement about a 70.4 acre shopping center proposed for the southeast corner of Shriners Boulevard and Woolmarket Road. Although we have not received site plans for the development, a Wetlands Impact Application has been filed with […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council heard the appeal arguments for the closing of the northern end of Fayard and Anglada Streets. IP Casino Resort had filed an application for the vacation of these streets in order to construct a permanent parking lot. The city council voted to […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, we saw the very successful opening of both the “Level Lounge” and “Kress Live” in the Vieux Marche’. The downtown parking lots were filled to capacity and the Police Department reported that everything went very smooth. In other news this week, the Development Review […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the building department issued a building permit for the new “Reef Restaurant” to be located on Beach Boulevard between the Waffle House and the South Beach Condotel. A building permit was also issued for the new “Women’s and Children’s Facility” for the Gulf Coast Rescue Mission […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve an application to update the Master Plan for Treasure Bay Casino. Treasure Bay has acquired the former Le Chateau Condominium property and will construct a new landscaped parking lot, which will add an additional 295 parking […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director Last week in economic development, the city council voted to approve a text amendment to allow Seasonal Fireworks Sales as a conditional use in Regional Business (RB) Zoned Districts.  Also, the council voted to approve a 5 year, 100% tax abatement for the White House Hotel. Only the taxes for the […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Biloxi Planning Commission voted 8-6 to approved the application for the revised proposal of the IP Casino to vacate the northern end of Fayard and Anglada Streets at Bay View. The revised proposal removed the northern end of Reynoir Street from the application which will […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development our department issued building permits for single family homes which again exceeded one million dollars in total construction valuation. New single family residential housing starts continue to be very strong in the city. We are currently reviewing house plans for next week which should […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the city council voted to approve a new 110 lot single family residential subdivision development to be located on Mason Road in north Biloxi. The proposed market rate homes will be approximately 1700 square feet and will sell for around $175 thousand. The council […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the Community Development Department issued building permits to Horton Homes for 7 new single family houses in the new Rock Creek Subdivision, which is located north of Woolmarket Road just east of Lorraine. These 7 homes will be the first to be built in […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director  In economic development this week, the city council voted unanimously to approve the commitment of the match for the MDA Grant to extend Bay View Boulevard from Oak Street to 5th Street along Pine. This approval will allow us to submit the application to MDA to move the project forward. Two major commercial […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director April 2014 turned out to be another promising month for permitting and economic development in Biloxi. For the month, we issued 265 building permits for a total construction valuation of $7.5 million. We are continuing to review the building plans for phase one of the baseball stadium. Building plans for […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week has proven to be another active period in the Community Development Department. On Wednesday we received the first package of building  plans and specifications for the new minor league baseball stadium. Once the plans are approved by our plans examiner, and the Biloxi Fire Department, a building permit will […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development our department issued the building permit for the New Walmart Neighborhood Market, a $4.2 million dollar project to be located on Pass Road just west of Our Lady of Fatima Church. This retail grocery store will be over 41,000 square feet and will have […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the demolition and site work have begun for the new baseball stadium. The contractor has made a tremendous amount of progress removing trees, demolishing structures and removing paving materials. Also, construction began this week in west Biloxi  for the new Waffle House Restaurant to be […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This has been a very active week in the Community Development Department. Building Permits have been issued for the renovations to the “Kress Building” ($750,000), the Green Space at the “Grand Casino” ($950,000) and the demolition and site work for the new Minor League Baseball Stadium ($600,000). Building plans […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director There are a number of exciting announcements to make this week. The most important was the announcement of the agreement between Biloxi Boardwalk and Warner Gaming and Entertainment. Warner is an extremely well respected name in the gaming industry. This agreement will bring to fruition the renovation of the […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director This week in economic development, the contractor for the White House Hotel completed the exterior painting for the newly enclosed western portion of the structure. It is well worth a trip to the site to see the progress being made, and to see how everything is beginning to come together. The columns for the western […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director In a week abbreviated by Mardi Gras, we received building plans for six new houses, and for the New Parrish Life Center for St. Michael’s Church at 177  First Street. On Thursday, the Biloxi Planning Commission reviewed and approved an application from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum Commission to vacate […]

By Jerry Creel, Community Development Director As the Baseball Stadium project moves forward, there continues to be increased interest in development for the downtown area. The Baseball Stadium Design is scheduled to go before Biloxi’s Architectural-Historical Review Commission on Thursday, February 27, at 8:30 a.m. The meeting will be held in the Community Development Building […]

By Jerry Creel Community Development Director This week the Community Development Department issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the 24-Hour Animal Hospital, a $2.3 million dollar construction project located at 8144 East Oaklawn, just south of I-10. The New Blue Crab Restaurant and The New Firehouse Subs Restaurants are now open for business. $1.6 million […]

By Jerry Creel Community Development Director This week, economic development in the City of Biloxi continued to flourish with the opening of the New Hard Rock Casino Hotel Tower. The Community Development Department also issued Certificates of Occupancy for the new Blue Crab Restaurant on Beach Boulevard, and the Firehouse Subs Restaurant at Pass Road […]

(Henceforth, this report will be included each week in a Friday afternoon Bmail). By Jerry Creel Community Development Director Economic development continues to improve in Biloxi. During January 2014, we issued building permits for 6 new single family houses. Commercial building permits were issued for an addition and site improvements for Jeff Davis Elementary School, […]