Biloxi in WSJ

There was an interesting article on the casino industry (and the long range plans for East Biloxi) in today's WSJ. The article is listed on the City of Biloxi's web site.

A few "look-ins":

* "Gamblers already have flocked back to Biloxi, wagering $375 million at the three casinos open in the first half of the year. That's nearly 70% of what was wagered a year earlier in the nine casinos operating before Katrina struck, state officials say.

*Mississippi's 1990 law legalizing the casino business had required all gambling to take place offshore, which restricted operations to riverboats on the Mississippi or barges docked along the Gulf Coast. The law made it difficult for casino owners to integrate their gambling sites with other parts of their properties. "

*"The gambling industry found new leverage in the storm's wake. In the 15 years since it was legalized, casinos had become the region's key economic driver....A compromise was forged to allow gambling facilities to move on land within an 800-foot-wide strip along the shoreline."

*The casino operators have been spurred by a post-Katrina federal tax credit designed to encourage rebuilding after the storm. The credit applies to construction of nongambling facilities, including hotels, restaurants and retail outlets, that open for business along the Gulf Coast before the end of 2008.

*"A year after Katrina passed through, Biloxi's Mayor Holloway continues to grapple with a critical housing shortage, skyrocketing construction costs and squabbles with state agencies over badly needed road repairs. But he has worked hardest at reviving the casinos. The 67-year-old mayor began his fourth term last July -- a month before Katrina. The city's future, he says, depends on companies like MGM Mirage and Harrah's putting Biloxi in the same sentence as Las Vegas and Atlantic City."

*"On Mr. Holloway's city hall desk is a massive three-ring binder containing details of a master plan proposed for the eastern part of the city. In the plan, a new four-lane boulevard would wrap around the city's eastern edge, with casinos dotting the waterfront. The design is packed with high-rise condominiums and parks."