The plan to transform the shuttered Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant in Mississippi into the new Biloxi House casino resort reportedly took a huge step forward earlier this week by being granted site approval.

Biloxi proposal:

According to a Thursday report from local television broadcaster, WLOX-TV, the endorsement from the Mississippi Gaming Commission was a necessary prerequisite for the scheme to move forward while local developer Biloxi House LLC is now hoping to spend approximately $200 million in order to enlarge and re-open the waterfront property by the end of 2021.

Ample extension:

The broadcaster reported that the Biloxi venue shut its doors in September of 2014 but Chris Taylor and Tom Moore from Biloxi House revealed that they want to bring it back to life after adding a 20,000 sq ft back deck and some 15,000 sq ft of extra gaming space. The pair purportedly also detailed that they intend to construct an adjacent 300-room hotel and improve access to the twelve-acre site, which sits in the ‘Back Bay’ district of the Mississippi city near to the Golden Nugget Biloxi.

WLOX-TV reported that the developer moreover soon expects to unveil a plan to bring a unique tourist-attracting amenity to the coming facility but will not be able to start construction until receiving official planning permission from city authorities and the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Additional attraction:

Taylor reportedly told the broadcaster in April that Biloxi House should open around two years after receiving all of these necessary approvals and asserted that the new venue would not adversely impact the current nine casinos in the city.

The developer added…

“We’re not here to cannibalize the existing market but bring new gamers to the market. You do that first and foremost with service. Second, you do that by bringing a unique amenity in order to bring what you would consider non-traditional gamers to this market.”