Biloxi Planning Commission Approves Black Marlin Casino Project
The Biloxi Planning Commission has approved rezoning for the Black Marlin Casino, clearing a major local hurdle for a project developer Ray Wooldridge has been pursuing for more than 15 years. The proposed resort would sit on three parcels at the intersection of US 90 and Veterans Avenue on Biloxi's Gulf Coast, and if it clears its remaining approvals, it would become the city's 13th casino.
What's being built
Black Marlin is planned as an 11-acre resort featuring 1,100 slot machines, 24 live-dealer table games, and a sportsbook, alongside a 300-room hotel with dining and meeting space and 668 parking spaces. Wooldridge's development group, RW Development, is partnering with Kentucky-based Encompass Develop Design and Construct on the build. To satisfy Mississippi's waterfront-siting requirement for casinos, Wooldridge has committed to building a roughly $1 million handicap-accessible pier south of Highway 90 — a mechanism Gulf Coast casinos have long used to establish the water-adjacency the state's gaming law requires.
Environmental conditions attached to the approval
The rezoning approval isn't unconditional. Clearing the site requires removing 28 existing trees, and the commission's sign-off obligates the developer to either plant 209 replacement trees or contribute to the city's tree mitigation fund instead. Conditions like these are a routine part of commercial approvals on Mississippi's coast, but they add real cost and logistics on top of the core construction budget.
What still has to happen
Planning Commission approval is a local zoning step, not a green light to open. The project still needs sign-off from the Biloxi City Council, followed by a full licensing review from the Mississippi Gaming Commission before Black Marlin could actually break ground and eventually open. Mississippi's Gulf Coast casino market is already one of the more mature regional gaming markets in the country, and a 13th Biloxi property would add meaningfully to local competition for both table-game and slot business along that stretch of the coast — worth watching for anyone tracking Gulf Coast casino supply, even this early in the approval process.