One of Biloxi’s most historic city-owned sites, the eight-acre waterfront venue where Tullis Manor once stood, could be revitalized with an upscale 200-room hotel, scenic gardens, and even a full-size replica of the historic manor.
The Biloxi City Council this afternoon approved a one-year, $50,000 option where developers of Tullis Gardens would work on their plans for what is projected to be a $140 million project.
“This is an extraordinary piece of development for Biloxi,” said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich. “It’s a luxury development that is also a homage to our history and the history of this particular site.”
Developer of the project would be Tullis Gardens Hotel LLC.
Tullis Gardens would include an 11-story hotel with penthouses and suites along with a rooftop restaurant facing the waterfront. And next to the grand structure will be a replica of a piece of Biloxi’s history, the 19th-century Tullis-Toledano Manor.
In fact, the proposed design of the hotel borrows a number of features – an upscale “Deck” restaurant on the top of the hotel– from such former Biloxi landmarks as the Buena Vista and Tivoli hotels.
And with the design, developers say, every protected tree on the oak-filled property will be saved.
Once plans are finalized, the developer would have the option to buy the property from the city, after property appraisals are conducted to determine fair market value plus 25 percent of the fair market value.
The site, which is on U.S. 90 in East Biloxi between the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art and Oak Street, stretches from U.S. 90 to Howard Avenue.
“The developers,” Blessey said, would also be looking to add a number of nice shops and possibly a sidewalk cafe on Howard Avenue.”
See the presentation at city council
See the Tullis Gardens renderings
See the agreement approved at council
News & notes: Weekly report, council, traffic
The week that was: Get the behind-the-scenes details on the week that was in Biloxi. Weekly reports from the departments of Police, Fire, Community Development, and Engineering are online for review. To see the reports from last week and an archive of weekly reports, click here.
City council: The Biloxi City Council held its last meeting of November 2022 this afternoon at Biloxi City Hall where they addressed a number of issues. To see the complete video of the meeting, click here.
Traffic: To see the latest traffic advisories and road closures, click here.
