The operators of Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort Casino have their eyes on building a new casino property in Biloxi, Mississippi.
On Tuesday, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation announced a new strategic partnership with gulf coast businessman Chris Ferrara’s Biloxi Boardwalk Ventures and The Hartmann Group to build a $265m Foxwoods-branded casino on a 23-acre site in Biloxi’s Back Bay area.
The project, which will be dubbed Foxwoods Resort Casino at Biloxi Pointe, plans to offer a 500-room hotel, a 50k-square-foot casino floor featuring nearly 1,400 slots and table games, 71k square feet of meeting and exhibition space, as well as the requisite dining, retail and entertainment options.
The partners say they envision a spring 2019 grand opening and Ferrara said the property would have an “old Biloxi” theme. The new casino would be the 13th on the state’s coast.
Some financing commitments still have to be arranged and the Mississippi Gaming Commission will have to approve the plan before shovels touch earth, but Ferrara garnered approval for a casino on the site in 2012.
Biloxi mayor Andrew Gilich said he was encouraged by the announcement, noting that Ferara has been attempting to corral the right casino partners since he purchased the land in 2002. Gilich said the Mashantucket Pequots’ involvement “will certainly energize this project.”
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council chairman Rodney Butler said the project offered the opportunity to “not only expand geographic diversification for the Foxwoods brand but also leverage our management expertise well beyond New England.”
Foxwoods Resort Casino CEO Felix Rappaport said Biloxi was the perfect location for the tribe’s expansion plan because it offered a “near-perfect, year round climate, casual coastal vibe and excellent nightlife.”
