White House Hotel will build new waterfront wedding venue with dozens of luxury suites
A White House Hotel and Events Center at the beach got a first look by the Biloxi Development Review Committee Wednesday.
The four-story building at the corner of U.S. 90 and White Avenue will be painted the same brilliant wedding cake white as the historic White House Hotel directly across the street.
The White House is among South Mississippi’s most popular wedding venues. Tents frequently are set up on the lawn for wedding receptions and a meeting rooms is tucked under the eves.
“We don’t have a good place to accommodate receptions,” Greg Stewart with Lodging & Leisure Investments told the DRC. He didn’t reveal a cost of the investment for the new hotel.
The new building will have 50 hotel rooms.
“They’re all luxury suites,” said Biloxi architect Frank Genzer, who designed the new hotel. At the front of the building will be “absolutely fantastic” executive accommodations.
The 10,000 square foot, two-story event center will have plenty of spots for memorable wedding photos, he said, plus a stage, kitchen and dressing rooms.
The diagonal entrance to the building will front both U.S. 90 and White Avenue, with about 20 columns standing across the front and down the side. Multi-story balconies will provide breezes and views of the beach.
The traditional design of the new building , including the decorative copula on the top of the building, matches the White House Hotel, Genzer said.
“It’s going to be an absolutely beautiful building,” he said.
Two trees at the center of the property that aren’t in good shape will be coming down, Stewart said, but the building was situated on the site to preserve a beautiful protected tree at the back of the property.
A portion of the site must be rezoned from residential to Community Business. Few variances are required.
Plans for this hotel and event center come a week after plans were submitted for two hotels on the property immediately to the west. Both resorts will be considered by the planning commission as part of an overlay district for hospitality business.
With the main gate for Keesler Air Force Base scheduled to switch from White Avenue to Division Street in April, traffic is expected to be much lighter on White Avenue. A crosswalk will be marked to make it easier for people to walk between the two White House properties and shared parking, Stewart said.
Construction will begin after work is done to restore the Markham Hotel in downtown Gulfport, he said. Crews are scheduled to start work there on March 1, he said.
In addition to the White House Hotel, Lodging & Leisure Investments has restored and operates Centennial Plaza in Gulfport and Margaritaville Resort Biloxi and Hotel Legends in Biloxi.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
