Vacant since Katrina, Biloxi’s Olive Garden site may transform into a $4M development
The site of Olive Garden before Hurricane Katrina destroyed the building has a new multi-million dollar development plan after 17 years.
The Biloxi City Council on Tuesday will vote on whether to give conditional use for a convenience store and gas station on the 2.8-acre site at the corner of DeBuys Road and U.S. 90.
The property at 2790 Beach Blvd is just inside the city line at the western entrance to Biloxi. Before it was the popular chain restaurant, the now-empty lot was home to Brennan’s and The Friendship House.
The Biloxi Planning Commission unanimously voted in favor of the project after a hearing on March 17. The city council can follow that recommendation, change the terms of use or vote against it.
Felix Bertucci presented the plans on behalf of Audubon Realty property owner GMRI Inc., a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, which operates Red Lobster, Olive Garden and other hospitality businesses.
It could be the first 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station in South Mississippi, which is what is pictured in a rendering showing an outdoor eating area. The 7-Eleven gas station sells hot foods, sandwiches, ice cream, pizza and it’s famous Slurpees.
“The 7-Eleven? Probably,” Bertucci told the planning commission.
“You can’t get an operator unless you’ve got a deal,” he said.
“It’s going to be upscale,” he said, given the cost of the land. He described it as a $4 million to $5 million project and said, “I think it will be a prototype building.”
No restaurant allowed on property
A deed restriction on the property prohibits another restaurant from locating there.
“I mean, that’s what we would all like to see back there.,” Bertucci said. “So if you can’t put a restaurant on it, what do you do with the site?”
The parking lot, curbs and sidewalks are still in place, he said, as are many trees. Bertucci said the trees will not be cut to build the convenience store.
“One tree. We’re taking out one tree on that whole site,” he said. The entrance and exit road off DeBuys Road will split to preserve a tree, he said.
The gas station will be located primarily on a portion of the old Olive Garden restaurant, on the front 250 feet of the property. To expand it beyond that would require additional permission from the city.
The building would face DeBuys Road rather than 90, he said, and have access from the service road and DeBuys Road.
“This property, like the rest of the property on the beach, has been vacant for 17 years now,” he said. “The unique aspect of this property is unlike any other property on the Coast.”
It sits 20 feet above sea level, he said, and is the only place to build a convenience store on the ground level that has a traffic light controlled intersection and service drive.
There are two gas stations nearby at the intersection of DeBuys and Pass Road.
Along the beach on U.S. 90, the closest gas stations are two miles east — the Circle K in Biloxi — and the Circle K that’s 10 miles west in Long Beach. There are no convenience stores or gas stations on U.S. 90 in Gulfport.
Bertucci said the Circle K in Biloxi’s location is “dangerous, very inadequate in size and is non-comforming because of its elevation below the flood zone,” Bertucci said.
“Those conditions offer a highly desirable opportunity to create a much needed development like the one requested for this multi-million dollar project that is much needed in the Biloxi and adjoining Gulfport community.”
Undeveloped land the size of downtown Biloxi
While the Biloxi Council will be voting on just this site, Biloxi and Gulfport are sitting on almost 60 acres of vacant property in that area, Bertucci said.
That includes the land across the street — on the Gulfport side of DeBuys Road — where Red Lobster and Brittany Apartments were before Hurricane Katrina, he said. On the east side of DeBuys Road in Biloxi, the Olive Garden site, the Landry’s site and acres of land behind and next to Beau View Towers remain undeveloped.
“All together It’s 60 acres, which is just about as big as downtown Biloxi,” Bertucci said. “And it’s 20 feet,” he said of the elevation. “You do not have to build up.”
The council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall on Lameuse Street.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 3:23 PM.
