Universal Music Group to build US$ 1.2 B ´music-based´ casino resort in Biloxi

The project is a collaboration between Universal Music and Miami-based investment group Dakia U-Ventures and would be the first casino resort owned by a major global music corporation. It promises to be a “music-based experiential hotel,” according to a joint statement by the developers.

The new venue is part of UMG’s and Dakai’s new UMUSIC Hotel line, which will see the establishment of two more venues in Atlanta and Orlando. Biloxi will be the only property with a casino.

UMG is the biggest music company in the world and has the potential to dominate the live mainstream music scene in a city like Biloxi, post-pandemic.

Over the years it has gobbled up dozens of iconic record labels, from EMI to Capitol Records and Decca to Def Jam. Among its thousands of signed artists are some of the bestselling acts of all time, including The Beatles, Queen, Elton John, The Eagles, and Madonna, as well as current stars like Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and Drake.

The resort will be built on the site of the Broadwater Beach Hotel, marina and golf course, which was destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. The resort began life in 1939, as an illegal gaming house — one of many along the Gulf Coast to which authorities were prepared to turn a blind eye.

In its 1950s and 1960s heyday, the gambling stopped, and the venue was reinvented as a glamorous resort destination, perhaps the premiere resort on the Gulf Coast.
When Mississippi legalized casino gambling in the early 1990s, President Casinos acquired the property and added a riverboat. But in 2002, the operator, saddled with corporate debt, filed for bankruptcy, although the casino remained in operation until it was acquired by developers at a bankruptcy auction in 2015, less than a month before Katrina hit.

In June this year, the Biloxi City Council approved a tourism tax incentive for the redevelopment of the plot, according to the city resolution.