Why Mississippi? How D’Iberville was picked for $410 million Sports Illustrated resort.
The announcement this week that a $410 million Sports Illustrated resort is planned for D’Iberville was a surprise to many people on the Mississippi Coast and beyond, but it’s been in the works for one year.
D’Iberville is one of the newest and smallest cities in South Mississippi by area and population. Yet it’s home to The Promenade shopping complex. It has the third best sales tax revenue of the 12 cites in the three Coastal counties, behind Gulfport and Biloxi, and Mayor Rusty Quave says it is in the top 20 statewide for sales tax.
Bob Mandal has worked for a decades to bring a shopping center to the nearly 80-acre property at the I-10 and I-110 intersection. Online sales canceled much of the construction of brick and mortar retail stores across the country, and squashed Mandal’s s dream of building Gulf Coast Galleria on the property he co-owns in his hometown.
He built BWM, Buick and other car dealerships on part of the property and a Walk-Ons restaurant, co-owned by former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.
He held out on the other 78 acres for a project that would have a major impact.
The proposed development is called Blue Water Beach and plans call for three hotels and sports-themed crystal lagoon and other interactive attractive, restaurants, shopping and special events.
Mandal met Christopher Schroeder, CEO of Experiential Ventures Hospitality, at a conference more than a year ago and the two brought the land, their development experience and ideas together.
People have clamored for more family entertainment in South Mississippi, Schroeder said, and a Sports Illustrated resort will deliver immersive and interactive experiences.
What to expect at SI resort
Sports Illustrated is owned by Authentic Brand Groups, which has over 50 brands like Reebok, Volcom, Eddie Bauer and Shaquille O’Neal — brands that cater to a wide age and variety of customers.
Some of these brands could be incorporated into the new resort for a quality shopping experience, said Chris Gouras with Gouras & Associates consultants, who is handling city, county and state incentives for the project.
It is the experiences that will appeal to customers, he said, and those are still in the design phase. The Green Monster or other elements of Fenway Park might be part of the resort, or visitors may be able to take a shot and feel like they are at Duke during a big game, he said.
Gouras said the plans call for the public to be allowed to buy admission to the crystal lagoon, an 11-acre pool where an adult area with bar, zip line and other attractions are planned.
Storyland Studios, which did the planning for the Harry Potter Experience and interactive experiences at Legoland, Universal Studios and at resorts and water parks across the country, is also involved in this new resort.
Special sports events, sports training and entertainment also will be among the experiences.
Why D’Iberville, Mississippi
The announcement on Super Bowl Weekend in February of the creation of Sports Illustrated Resorts didn’t mention D’Iberville. But work was well underway on planning the resort, said Chris Gouras with Gouras & Associates consultants, who is handling city, county and state incentives for the project. These incentives help pay for infrastructure and are tourism tax incentives are extended to most major projects that attract visitors to Mississippi.
A regional map shows D’Iberville sits in the middle of the Southeastern U.S., less than a 10-hour drive from major metropolitan areas of Tampa, Atlanta, Houston and Dallas.
The project isn’t a casino, but Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville is about a mile away and eight Biloxi casinos are within 15-minutes or less.
Ocean Springs, just voted the No. 1 small beach town by USA Today, is nearby, along with championship golf courses, miles of white sand beach and a large fleet of fishing charters and pleasure boats.
The land for the resort already is cleared in preparation for the shopping center that didn’t get built and the interstate exits were rebuilt in a multi-million dollar construction project that lasted for years.
Some of the entrances built in anticipation of a shopping center will have to be tweaked to accommodate the new resort, but Promenade Parkway already is built and the Popp’s Ferry extension road is under construction to give access.
Just like when Disney went shopping for a location for Disney World, the lower price of the land, accessibility to the airport and interstates, warm temperatures and the business-friendly local leaders are part of the attraction of D’Iberville for this major project.
