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Ocean Club Condo Claims It's After "Its Own Onsite Casino"
Message was posted: 09:42 May 22nd, 2007

User: libblesp Rank: Casino Gold: 58782CG Contributor rating: 128760 Status: Offline

Casino news source: WLOX - http://www.wlox.com Ocean Club Condo Claims It's After "Its Own Onsite Casino" May 22, 2007 10:41 AM EDT A May, 2007 news release about Biloxi's Ocean Club condominum says its developer "is in the process of gaining approval for its own onsite casino." But a WLOX News investigation quickly determined that the Ocean Club site doesn't qualify as a casino site, in part because that area isn't zoned for casinos. Ocean Club sits between Treasure Bay and the old Broadwater resort. The property is owned by Drake Leddy. He's the chairman of a San Antonio, Texas race track. Leddy's liason in Biloxi is Mike Boudreaux. On Monday, Boudreaux admitted the casino statement in the Ocean Club news release "isn't true. It's not only not a casino site, it probably never will be." Boudreaux is the GCID executive who convinced Drake Leddy to build condominium towers on the north side of Biloxi's shoreline. Condominiums, Boudreaux emphasized, not casinos. "When you look here, it's a misnomer. It isn't going to be a casino site. It isn't one now," Boudreaux said. Ocean Club is directly across the street from a half mile strip of sand. The first of three condo towers under construction is within 800 feet of the mean high tide. So in that respect, it meets Mississippi's on shore gaming requirement. However, the area between Treasure Bay and the old Broadwater is not zoned for casinos. Plus, state law says if a casino doesn't own or lease waterfront property, it won't get gaming commission approval. And in this case, the property on the water's edge is beachfront. It's controlled by the county. So county leaders say it can't be developed. On top of that, Mississippi Gaming Commission executive director Larry Gregory said he's "never heard" of Drake Leddy, the Ocean Club condo, or a plans for a casino in the condo tower. And the city of Biloxi says permits for a project like this have never been requested. A company called N5R Reality Advisors put out the statement. The top of it said it was "For Immediate Release". WLOX News called the spokesman listed on the statement. He said the the casino comment at the bottom of the fourth paragraph "came from the developer. That's why it was written in." Boudreaux thinks Ocean Club's marketing firm may have heard generic talk about Biloxi casinos, and simply mixed up the message. "If it should become one, it's only because in the future, a lot of things have changed along the Mississippi coast. But it isn't on the books right now," he said. Ocean Club's marketing executive wants WLOX News to talk with the condo developer Drake Leddy. N5R said he wasn't available Monday. But he should be in Biloxi on Friday. WLOX News has been told it would sit down with Mr. Leddy during that visit to find out why an onsite casino was mentioned in a news release about the Ocean Club condominium. By Brad Kessie

Ocean Club Condo Claims It's After "Its Own Onsite Casino"
Message was posted: 10:27 May 26th, 2007

User: libblesp Rank: Casino Gold: 58782CG Contributor rating: 128760 Status: Offline

Casino news source: WLOX - http://www.wlox.com Condo Owner Discusses His Biloxi Casino Concept May 25, 2007 05:05 PM EDT Brad Kessie Talks With Ocean Club's Owner About Casino Controversy The man building the Ocean Club condominium on Highway 90 sees nothing wrong with a casino linked to his condo towers. Drake Leddy met with Brad Kessie Friday afternoon and responded to a story Brad aired Monday. That story reported that Ocean Club was in the process of gaining approval for its own onsite casino, even though the condo site is not zoned for casinos. Despite the zoning discrepancy, Leddy said any Biloxi property owner within 800 feet of the mean high tide would be prudent to explore potential casino options. The biggest problem he had was that his marketing firm released information that wasn't supposed to be public knowledge yet. "I wish that sentence hadn't been in there because it was premature," he said. Premature, maybe. But Leddy also confirmed it was correct. "I believe that having a casino on our site will add value to my customers' property," he said. In fact, he asked the 92 people who bought units in the Ocean Club condo for permission to consider the casino idea before he made his plans public. Leddy spent $50 million to design and build Ocean Club condo tower number one. After Katrina, when the legislature allowed casinos to move 800 feet inland, the Texas developer toyed with ways to redo his project, and capitalize on the new law. "I'll tell you what my thought is, and it's only my thought as someone doing business here, is that you have a district here already here on the west Biloxi beach with two pre-existing casino locations. We come in between those two," he said. "So if in fact there were a casino license granted for this site at some point in the future, it would again be consistent with the district." However, Leddy knows that getting approval to add a casino to his condo project won't be easy. "When it comes right down to it, it's a policy question," the condo developer said. "And it's something that the political people of Biloxi are going to have to figure out." As WLOX News reported on Monday, the area between Treasure Bay and the old Broadwater isn't zoned for casinos. And the city hasn't been approached by Ocean Club for a zoning change. Leddy doesn't control the waterfront across the street either. Administrators at the Mississippi Gaming Commission office in Jackson say that's a must for any coast casino developer. The Ocean Club owner believes his casino idea has a 12 to 18 month window of opportunity. If he can't work out the regulatory issues by then, he says he'll simply create a great condo site that adds to Biloxi's growing skyline. "There will be a time that we probably want to bring it up to talk. We aren't fully complete with all of the work that we need to do to have a nice little bow wrapped around a proposal," Leddy said.