Tivoli Casino Site Approved in Biloxi After Nearly Two Decades of Resort Wrangling

^{More casinos could be coming soon (finally!) to the Biloxi shore in Mississippi. (Photo: Carmen K Sisson / Cloudybright)}

In 2007, developers unveiled a plan to bring a casino resort to the former site of the Tivoli Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi. On Thursday, they finally got approval to develop the site from the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

On Thursday, Biloxi Capital won its long battle to gain site approval following the rejection of an appeal filed by Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson.

State Loses Battle Over Tidelands Lease, Again

The City of Biloxi and Harrison County entered into an agreement with Biloxi Capital to build a pier on the waterfront south of the Tivoli Hotel site in August 2024, a necessary step to meet the requirements for casino developments in Mississippi. But Watson appealed that decision, saying that Biloxi didn’t have the authority to make that agreement, because the waterfront is classified as state tidelands.

However, that argument had a clear issue. In 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court had already ruled that the City of Biloxi did have that authority when it signed a lease with RW Development, because the state had not previously considered that property tidelands. That led to a quick dismissal of the similar appeal regarding the Biloxi Capital lease.

“The state can point to nothing that distinguishes this case from RW Development,” Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson said in her April 2025 decision. “In fact, it has not even attempted to do so. It simply chose to ignore the Supreme Court’s opinion. It is clear that the [City of Biloxi] had the legal authority to enter the lease.”

The proposed casino at the site of the former hotel, which Biloxi Capital purchased for $40 million following Hurricane Katrina, would feature a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor that could include 2,000 slot machines, 75 table games, and a sportsbook. The plans also call for a 1,300-room hotel along with convention space and additional amenities. 

A Casino Nearly Two Decades in the Making

The Biloxi City Council first zoned the site for a casino in 2007, when Biloxi Capital proposed investing as much as $1 billion into the casino complex. Yet even though site approval was finally secured this week, there are still hurdles ahead for the development.

First, the developers will have to provide documents to the Mississippi Gaming Commission proving that they have the financial resources to both complete and open the resort. There’s also a second lawsuit from the Secretary of State over the development that will be heard in Chancery Court later in July.

The development is one of two currently navigating the approval process in east Biloxi. Just a few blocks from the Tivoli site, Tullis Gardens’ is trying to develop its own casino, and has faced opposition from the Secretary of State as well as existing Biloxi casinos.

While the Gaming Commission granted site approval for that casino in December 2024, the project still faces a legal battle with the Secretary of State over its own tidelands issues, with opponents claiming the property doesn’t extend to the water line and questioning whether the developers truly plan to build a pier to fix that issue.

“At this rate, we’re at least three years out from clearing the litigation to appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court and millions of dollars in legal expenses,” Tullis Gardens attorney and CEO Luke Lenzi said, via the Biloxi Sun Herald. “There can be no real significant development on the Coast in that type of environment. The city and all the parties need to come together and work together for the betterment of One Coast.”