Agreement reached to vacate Margaritaville Casino

BILOXI, Miss. — A U.S. bankruptcy judge has given MVB Holding until midnight Oct. 27 to vacate the former Margaritaville Casino building and turn the keys over to the property owners.

Judge Katharine Samson signed an order Oct. 1. Property owners Clay Point LLC will get the keys to the building but cannot remove any property or interfere with the removal of any slot machines.

“All gaming equipment is leaving the building,” Robert Byrd, the bankruptcy attorney for MVB, told The Sun Herald.

MVB had operated the casino in East Biloxi since 2012.

“Everything in there is leased, down to the salt and pepper shakers,” Byrd said.

The elevators, escalators, bar stools, kitchen equipment, buffet furniture — even the HVAC and surveillance equipment is leased, he said.

The number of employees is down to 60, and Byrd said by Thursday that will probably be cut in half.

Although the casino closed Sept. 15, he said, the employees got paid through Sept. 19, two months after they were notified of the closing.

Byrd said what won’t go with the building when it transfers to the property owner is the license to operate a casino and the Margaritaville franchise.

“It was specific to MVB,” Byrd said of the franchise agreement.

Mississippi Gaming Commission regulations say the building can’t reopen as a casino unless it has a 300-room hotel, an upscale restaurant and an amenity that would make it unique and draw new people to the market.

MVB will be allowed to remove business records and equipment and Byrd said he hoped all the slot equipment will be back with the manufacturers by the time MVB leaves the building.