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Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004
Natchez mansion in the works to become a casino
By LYNDA EDWARDS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATCHEZ - Florida developer Charles Cato says the mansion where Confederate president Jefferson Davis wed a Natchez aristocrat will soon house gamblers who crave history as much as a royal flush.
Cato, president of the planned Emerald Star Casino and Resort, said he expects to close next week on a deal to buy the Briars Inn, a historic bed and breakfast built in 1814.
The Briars Inn perches on a bluff 200 feet above the Mississippi River where Cato plans to anchor an 87,000-square-foot casino barge.
Cato said he will complete his purchase of the neighboring 162-room Ramada Hilltop Inn within three weeks.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission approved the site and development plan for Cato's $53 million casino complex in February.
"We'll renovate the Ramada completely and add a spa and a theater for musical acts," Cato said.
"The Briars will remain a historic inn. We'll use those rooms for VIPs and high roller suites."
Cato signed a letter of intent with the city of Natchez last summer to pay $50,000 for an exclusive 12-month option on the riverfront site Cato wants for his boat.
Then Emerald Star would pay the city $240,000 a year in rent and 2 percent of the casino's gross revenue.
"The closest spa I know of is in New Orleans, so that would be a great draw for the property," said Walter Tipton, executive director of the Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"It would bring in a somewhat more affluent crowd than most casinos draw."
Natchez, about 90 miles southwest of Jackson, is not near a major airport and it is not on the interstate.
The only casino competition in Natchez is an Isle of Capri riverboat. Isle CEO Tim Hinkley said that last year the Natchez economy struggled when hundreds of local residents lost jobs because of plant closings.
"Our focus in Mississippi has been on the Gulf Coast, where the market is growing," Hinkley said.
In the second quarter of 2004, The Biloxi-based Isle's Natchez boat was the smallest of the company's Mississippi revenue streams. Isle of Capri is spending $60 million to expand its parking and double the size of its Biloxi hotel.
Isle properties have a Caribbean theme. Neon palm trees illuminate the Biloxi hotel and coffee shops and calypso music billows around slot machines. Gamblers can be on the sugar-white beaches within minutes.
Cato has a different template in mind for his venture in Natchez, a city that is two years older than New Orleans. Antebellum mansions line downtown streets shaded by enormous pines, magnolia trees and oaks shrouded in Spanish moss.
The Briars, where Cato hopes to land his gamblers, is surrounded by 19 acres of pecan trees, oaks, day lily ponds, azaleas and camellias. The inn is decorated with antiques from the 1800s and was the site where Davis married Varina Howell in 1845.
Cato said Emerald Star would aim for the same gamblers who favor New Orleans.
"We want upscale vacationers who see the slot machines as just one part of the destination," he said. "These are gamblers who want to be surrounded by gorgeous architecture and eat well, maybe have some romantic pampering while they visit the casino."
This will be Cato's first foray into resort development. He is a part owner in Lighthouse Point, a modest Greenville casino. And off the coast of St. Petersburg, Fla., he converted a car ferry into a casino boat with suites for overnight gamblers. He worked in ad agencies before entering the casino business.
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© 2004 The Sun Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004
Natchez mansion in the works to become a casino
By LYNDA EDWARDS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATCHEZ - Florida developer Charles Cato says the mansion where Confederate president Jefferson Davis wed a Natchez aristocrat will soon house gamblers who crave history as much as a royal flush.
Cato, president of the planned Emerald Star Casino and Resort, said he expects to close next week on a deal to buy the Briars Inn, a historic bed and breakfast built in 1814.
The Briars Inn perches on a bluff 200 feet above the Mississippi River where Cato plans to anchor an 87,000-square-foot casino barge.
Cato said he will complete his purchase of the neighboring 162-room Ramada Hilltop Inn within three weeks.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission approved the site and development plan for Cato's $53 million casino complex in February.
"We'll renovate the Ramada completely and add a spa and a theater for musical acts," Cato said.
"The Briars will remain a historic inn. We'll use those rooms for VIPs and high roller suites."
Cato signed a letter of intent with the city of Natchez last summer to pay $50,000 for an exclusive 12-month option on the riverfront site Cato wants for his boat.
Then Emerald Star would pay the city $240,000 a year in rent and 2 percent of the casino's gross revenue.
"The closest spa I know of is in New Orleans, so that would be a great draw for the property," said Walter Tipton, executive director of the Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"It would bring in a somewhat more affluent crowd than most casinos draw."
Natchez, about 90 miles southwest of Jackson, is not near a major airport and it is not on the interstate.
The only casino competition in Natchez is an Isle of Capri riverboat. Isle CEO Tim Hinkley said that last year the Natchez economy struggled when hundreds of local residents lost jobs because of plant closings.
"Our focus in Mississippi has been on the Gulf Coast, where the market is growing," Hinkley said.
In the second quarter of 2004, The Biloxi-based Isle's Natchez boat was the smallest of the company's Mississippi revenue streams. Isle of Capri is spending $60 million to expand its parking and double the size of its Biloxi hotel.
Isle properties have a Caribbean theme. Neon palm trees illuminate the Biloxi hotel and coffee shops and calypso music billows around slot machines. Gamblers can be on the sugar-white beaches within minutes.
Cato has a different template in mind for his venture in Natchez, a city that is two years older than New Orleans. Antebellum mansions line downtown streets shaded by enormous pines, magnolia trees and oaks shrouded in Spanish moss.
The Briars, where Cato hopes to land his gamblers, is surrounded by 19 acres of pecan trees, oaks, day lily ponds, azaleas and camellias. The inn is decorated with antiques from the 1800s and was the site where Davis married Varina Howell in 1845.
Cato said Emerald Star would aim for the same gamblers who favor New Orleans.
"We want upscale vacationers who see the slot machines as just one part of the destination," he said. "These are gamblers who want to be surrounded by gorgeous architecture and eat well, maybe have some romantic pampering while they visit the casino."
This will be Cato's first foray into resort development. He is a part owner in Lighthouse Point, a modest Greenville casino. And off the coast of St. Petersburg, Fla., he converted a car ferry into a casino boat with suites for overnight gamblers. He worked in ad agencies before entering the casino business.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2004 The Sun Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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