Hotel. Townhouses. Restaurants. Historic Coast building to get $14.6M transformation.
Jourdan Nicaud is about to bring his development magic further into Jackson Countt with the Ice and Freezer House, a proposed $14.6 million mixed use development in downtown Pascagoula.
He already operates about a dozen restaurants across the three Coast counties, and is building an apartment complex in downtown Biloxi and an antiques center in Gulfport.
At age 31, his businesses will stretch from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula, across the three Coast counties.
He is partnering with other developers on this latest venture. It will go before the Pascagoula Council Tuesday night to get the city’s support to acquire and reconfigure a piece of property from Mississippi Department of Transportation. That property will provide direct access to the development from U.S. 90 at Pascagoula Street.
The council also will vote on whether to provide tax increment financing (TIF) to help the developers cover infrastructure costs.
When people drive across the bridge on U.S. 90, the Ice and Freezer House will provide a new, attractive entrance to the city, replacing the building that has sat empty since a fire in 2012.
The shrimp processing plant and cold storage warehousing rooms were demolished after the fire, and what remains is the only example of Mission Revival-style architecture in Mississippi, according to a 2016 article in the Sun Herald.
The ice house, with its distinctive white arched windows, will be restored, under federal historic preservation guidelines of the National Park Service to potentially earn historic tax credits. The existing building and its architectural features will provide the theme for the restaurant project.
What the project will bring
“Our goal is to do two restaurants, coffee shop, hotel and a strip mall,” Nicaud said.
It’s too soon in the process for renderings, he said, but the site plan also shows locations for a bank, hotel and luxury townhouses tucked into the site between Pascagoula Street and Telephone Road, south of U.S. 90 and close to other downtown housing and restaurants.
The initial phase of the project will be developed on 7.8 acres and will include residential townhomes, two major restaurants, a franchised coffee business, a bank, and various retail goods and services, food service, professional services and additional commercial developments, according to the documents filed with the city.
In the second phase, a franchise brand hotel with 78-84 rooms would be built.
The cost of this initial phase is $14.6 million, plus the land cost. Another 55 acres could be developed in future phases.
City incentive could help financing
A TIF bond is used by cities across the Coast to help get projects built, and up to $5 million is proposed in Pascagoula to help the developers finance the Ice House project in a blighted area.
With a TIF bond, the developers receive the proceeds after the project is built to reimburse some of the cost of acquiring the land, redesigning the streets for safety and adding sidewalks, landscaping and other infrastructure.
To repay the bond, the city would pledge 100% of the increase in ad valorem taxes within the TIF District as a result of the project, which are projected to increase from $2,228 a year to $101,452 after improvements. Pascagoula also would pledge up to 75% of the city’s real estate tax generated from new retail sales in the district.
The county also would pledge up to 65% of the increased ad valorem tax generated, which is estimated to increase from about $2,000 to more than $93,000 a year.
Progress on other projects
Nicaud’s company owns Bacchus, Fill-Up with Billups, Field’s Steak & Oyster Bar, Charred Steak & Oyster Bar and Rooftop Tacos and Tequila restaurants on the Coast and other areas of the state.
He also has several other developments in progress:
▪ The Deck on Pass Christian’s beachfront is the latest project from Nicaud Restaurant Group. The bar and restaurant opened in time for Cruisin’ The Coast in October.
▪ Crews are working to transform what was Josette’s Costume Shop at 902 Howard Ave. in Biloxi into apartments. Nicaud said he hopes to be open before February with one- and two-bedroom apartments being leased through O’Keefe Real Estate.
▪ “Billups will be moving to there as well,” he said. The popular restaurant will still be in easy walking distance to the Beau Rivage and Hard Rock casinos, and Nicaud said he’s working on a new concept for the current location he owns on U.S. 90 at Caillavet Street.
▪ The historic Magnolia Hotel in Downtown Biloxi soon will become the second location of Field’s Steak & Oyster Bar. The building on Rue Magnolia, between U.S. 90 and Howard Avenue, was damaged by Hurricane Zeta and Nicaud said he and his brother, Field, have a goal to have it open by Mardi Gras.
▪ Mississippi Antique Galleria on Pass Road in Gulfport will turn a former shopping center into what Nicaud said will be the largest antiques complex in Mississippi. The sprawling building has a new roof and is crews are installing insulation and drywall. Nicaud said he hopes to have it ready to fill with antiques early next year.
