Biloxi casino gets approved after 15 years. What’s next for long-delayed project

Mary Perez
·2 min read

RW Development waited 15 years and spent millions of dollars on legal and engineering fees to get site approval from the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Thursday morning’s hearing was somewhat contentious, as representatives of RW Development went up against representatives from the existing casinos across South Mississippi.

The commission went into executive session following a 45-minute hearing in Jackson.

A Sound Off contributor asks that Veterans Avenue be cleaned up. “It’s an embarrassment to drive from U.S. 90 to Pass Road in a funeral procession and see derelict properties, empty buildings and overgrown weeds.’
A Sound Off contributor asks that Veterans Avenue be cleaned up. “It’s an embarrassment to drive from U.S. 90 to Pass Road in a funeral procession and see derelict properties, empty buildings and overgrown weeds.’

When they returned about 15 minutes later, commission chairman Francis Lee and commissioner Kent Nicaud followed the recommendation of executive director Jay McDaniel and granted site approval.

That approval comes with several conditions:

▪ Site approval expires in three years, which gives RW Development a short time to get its financing in order and present final plans to the gaming commission to proceed with construction.

▪ Site approval is conditioned on maintaining the lease with Biloxi and Harrison County, and requires the construction of a handicapped pier, estimated to cost more than $3 million as presented, and maintain it for public use.

▪ Site approval can’t be transferred to another party without approval by the gaming commission.

▪ The casino floor must be within 800 feet of the mean high-water line as required since Hurricane Katrina.

A rendering of the pier RW Development will build as part of its proposed casino development in Biloxi was shown by Terry Moran during the Mississippi Gaming Commission on Dec. 21, 2023.
A rendering of the pier RW Development will build as part of its proposed casino development in Biloxi was shown by Terry Moran during the Mississippi Gaming Commission on Dec. 21, 2023.

If RW Development and owner Ray Wooldridge can meet these conditions, this would become the ninth casino in Biloxi and the 13th in South Mississippi.

Operators of the other casinos stated their objections to site approval at the hearing.

A letter from the operators of Island View Casino in Gulfport and Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi claimed the RW Development lease still doesn’t meet the requirements for a legal site.

Michael Bruffey, deputy director of the Mississippi Hospitality and Gaming Association, said casino operators along the Gulf Coast asked that he present a letter on behalf of the association opposing RW Development’s fourth application for site approval. The letter gave several reasons why the RW application remains an illegal casino site.

“The lease has been effective for almost two years now,” said Michael Cavanaugh, attorney for RW Development. The Coast casino operators claimed the lease does not give RW Development control of the property to the water’s edge as required — “But it does,” he said.

Cavanaugh said those who objected to the site approval are competitors.

“Simply put, it appears that they obviously don’t want additional competition,” he said.

In the end, the gaming commission determined the site “meets all statutory regulatory requirements.”