Gulfport breaks ground on transformative downtown project. Here’s what to know
A $105 million mixed-use development broke ground Friday at the corner of U.S. 90 and 49 in downtown Gulfport, Mississippi. The project, now officially named Channel South, will bring apartments, a hotel, shopping and dining within walking distance of the beach and Mississippi Aquarium.
FULL STORY: $105M Coast downtown development kicks off with new name, promise of big impacts
Here are key takeaways:
• The project previously was called Gulfport Town Center. “Channel” pays tribute to the manmade boat channel in Gulfport, and “South” honors the Great Southern Hotel that once stood at the site.
• Channel South will include 136 apartments, a 114-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel with a ballroom, a rooftop bar, plus shopping and dining. A nearly 300-space parking garage will serve residents, visitors and the public.
• The development is led by Bellamare Development and Gulfport-based AnderCorp LLC. McKibbon Hospitality will operate the hotel.
• The parking garage is expected to be finished later this year, with the hotel, apartments and amenities coming online through 2027, according to the Sun Herald.
• State Sen. Scott DeLano said the hotel addition is “exactly what the downtown restaurants need” because of nightly guest turnover. “They went through five or six iterations of a project before they landed on something that fits really well,” he said of the developers.
• Mayor Hugh Keating said Robert St. John, a Hattiesburg restaurateur, is opening The Downtowner restaurant nearby this spring. Keating said he’s already getting calls from investors asking about available spaces downtown.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.
