The Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant is a closed

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The property is in the "Back Bay" area of Biloxi. It opened on May 22, 2012 and closed on September 15, 2014. Its brand was licensed from

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is the name of a United States–based hospitality company that manages and franchises a casual dining American restaurant chain, a chain of stores selling Jimmy Buffett–themed merchandise, and casinos with lod ...

History

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

, a native of nearby

Pascagoula The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River. The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw na ...

, tried to bring the Margaritaville brand to Biloxi as early as 2000, when discussions were held on building a hotel and amphitheater on 12 acres of beachfront land between the Casino Magic and Grand Casino. Following

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

Grand Casinos Grand Casinos () was a casino operator, co-founded by poker player Lyle Berman and Dave Anderson, Founder of Famous Dave's BBQ Restaurants, that started out managing several casinos in Minnesota in 1990. The company ceased to exist when it was pur ...

founder Tom Brosig came out of retirement and began looking for land to develop a casino, citing a desire to help rebuild the community. He settled on the Back Bay site where the Margaritaville Casino would ultimately open. According to Brosig, he nearly reached an agreement to use the Margaritaville brand in 2006. Buffett instead joined with

Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven go ...

in 2007 to begin construction on the $700-million Margaritaville Casino Resort on the site of the Casino Magic and Grand Casino, which had both been destroyed by Katrina. Buffett was partly motivated by a desire to help the region's economic recovery from Katrina. Construction was suspended, however, in 2008, due to the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

and Harrah's near-bankruptcy after being taken private. Meanwhile, Brosig continued his efforts on the Back Bay site, but had difficulty raising financing due to the financial crisis and the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

. He was eventually able to assemble a total investment of $63 million, with "20 or 22" equity investors. A 20-year agreement was reached for the Margaritaville brand. Buffett and Brosig unveiled their plans in 2011, describing a , $48-million Margaritaville Casino at the former East Harrison County Industrial Park, without the involvement of Harrah's (now Caesars Entertainment). Groundbreaking was expected in April 2011 with a construction time of 9 months. In March 2011, plans for the location won fast track approval from the city of Biloxi. On April 7, Buffett appeared before the Mississippi Gaming Commission and explained why the casino should be approved. Commissioners listened and then approved the project. On May 22, 2012, the Margaritaville Casino & Restaurant opened to the public, featuring 820 slot machines, 18 table games, two levels of dining decks, and a marina with waterside entertainment, food, and drinks. In June 2013, Margaritaville Biloxi became the first casino in Mississippi gaming history to offer outdoor gaming which includes three blackjack tables at LandShark Landing and Marina. In December 2013, Doug Shipley, President & CEO, announced that Margaritaville Biloxi would break ground on a new hotel facility in the spring with anticipated completion a year later. The new hotel would feature 250 rooms, including 170 deluxe guest rooms and 80 two- and three-bedroom suites. In addition, they would offer

timeshare A timeshare (sometimes called vacation ownership) is a property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each owner ...

units through a major international partner. In July 2014, the casino announced that it would likely close by September, because of an unresolved dispute with the landlord that was blocking the financing needed to build the hotel. On September 15, 2014, Margaritaville Biloxi officially closed. The property was listed for sale in 2015 with an asking price of $18 million. In 2019, a new group of developers filed plans to reopen the casino as the Biloxi House at Point Cadet. Their $200-million project would add a 300-room hotel and various other amenities to the site.

References

{{coord, 30, 24, 06, N, 88, 51, 35, W, scale:10000, display=title Casinos in Mississippi Resorts in Mississippi Buildings and structures in Biloxi, Mississippi Defunct casinos in the United States 2014 disestablishments in Mississippi Casinos completed in 2012 Casino and Restaurant Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014