Tunica Mega-Development

[sleepy]

Most North Mississippi development stuff is found over in the West Tennessee/Memphis forum since a lot of it is just suburban Memphis, but I thought this project deserved some mention over here.

When I first heard about this Tunica proposal, I was really skeptical--sounded like some developer just blowing smoke. A covered 18 hole golf course, snow park, and water park? But it now looks like this thing may actually become a reality.

Myriad World Resorts is scheduling groundbreaking for this project in July.

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/sto.../16/story2.html

Let's see:

1. an 80,000-square-foot casino

2. a 1,200-room 4-star hotel

3. a 375,000-square-foot convention center

4. retail space

5. a covered 5-acre water park

6. a 2,500-seat auditorium

7. a covered snow park, for year-round skiing, snowboarding, or ice skating

8. a 7,205-yard, 18-hole covered golf course

And these are the guys who did the covered golf course in Edmonton, so it looks real to me.

[tombarnes]

This could well be the project which propels Tunica into something more than a regional resort. I hope the hotel they are proposing will indeed be on the 4 or 5 star level. An airport expansion in Tunica could also be a great thing for everyone in the Memphis area.

[sleepy]

This could well be the project which propels Tunica into something more than a regional resort. I hope the hotel they are proposing will indeed be on the 4 or 5 star level. An airport expansion in Tunica could also be a great thing for everyone in the Memphis area.

Tunica's already up there by some standards. Its gambling revenues have always been above the MS coast's, ranking 3rd in the country after Vegas and Atlantic City.

It's just such an oddball place, though. Gigantic casinos stuck out in the middle of nowhere cotton fields.

[tombarnes]

They should also consider well designed residential development. Right now, there's no there there. Why not put a few 120 storied towers out in the cotton fields?

[DruidCity]

"Tunica's already up there by some standards. Its gambling revenues have always been above the MS coast's."

Although I've seen that stat before, it always surprises me, because the pre-Katrina coast casinos "seemed" much nicer.

[sleepy]

"Tunica's already up there by some standards. Its gambling revenues have always been above the MS coast's."

Although I've seen that stat before, it always surprises me, because the pre-Katrina coast casinos "seemed" much nicer.

I dunno, they always seemed about the same to me--some cheezy looking flashy buildings with a gazillion slot machines making all kinds of racket.

The difference in revenue wasn't much, about 10%.

I guess the fact that New Orleans has casinos and Memphis doesn't makes a difference. And Tunica's only a 30 minute drive from Memphis.

[tombarnes]

The new resort may usher in a new era of better casinos and more elaborate resort developments in Tunica. As I've said above, maybe something like a real city could emerge from the flat cotton fields of the Mississippi delta. The casinos in Tunica have mostly been a triumph of function over form. Relatively little effort has been expended to make them resorts in themselves. The two newer hotels at the Grand are a possible exception. In any event, it's time for the bar to be raised in order for Tunica to grow into something better. Light rail or rapid rail should be considered as a way to foster growth in the area. There's no reason why the entire region could not benefit from urbanization and long-range planning to meet the challenges of future growth.

[sleepy]

Well, there's that other proposed mega-development in western DeSoto County--primarily residential and so on. I think, too, I've heard/read about some other residential developments planned for Tunica County itself. Of course, the city of Tunica is a good 10 or so miles south of the casinos which were just put in on the nearest county line to Memphis.

[richyb83]

Yeah...It's hard to believe that tiny Tunica has Mississippi's tallest building,that happens to be a hotel ! Taller than anything in the largest city Jackson. I know Boloxi has some tall hotels too, that one on the bay-side rivals the tallest in Tunica ? I was not sure. I'll have to check and see.

[tombarnes]

I think the Beau Rivage may actually be slightly taller than the Imperial Palace (or simply IP as they are calling it now). Both are just under the height of the Gold Strike in Tunica.

[DruidCity]

Speaking of Mississippi's tallest buildings, I know there were proposals for condos on the MS coast for as tall as 39 stories before Katrina hit. I'll be interested to see if any such proposals re-emerge.

I didn't go back that far, but bidclerk.com does list a couple of planned condos in the 30-story range in Biloxi, as of a couple months ago.

In addition to Tunica and Biloxi having buildings taller than in Jackson, I'm guessing the Golden Moon near Philadephia is also taller than anything in Jackson ?

[tombarnes]

At 38 stories, the Portofino at the Broadwater, still projected to replace the Broadwater Beach in Biloxi, may emerge as the state's tallest building. The Golden Moon is just under the height of Jackson's tallest building. The Golden Moon stands at 22 floors and 94m tall. The AmSouth Plaza (formerly the Deposit Guratanty Tower) is 22 floors and 97m tall.

[DruidCity]

Thanks.

The Golden Moon is one of the most unusual buildings I've ever seen, especially to be out in the middle of nowhere.

[tombarnes]

It was designed by Arquitectonica of Miami. It is a most unusual- and vastly underrated building. The Choctaws ought to promote it more.

[NCB]

^I've always thought that building was unusual, in an interesting way.