Update: Are Sports Illustrated and Tullis Gardens resorts still coming to the MS Coast?

The $410 million Sports Illustrated resort proposed in D’Iberville will have to wait out the interest rate spikes — if the resort is built at all.

Also on hold is Tullis Gardens Resort at the beach in East Biloxi and its replica of the historic Tullis Manor, which was on the site until Hurricane Katrina demolished the hotel in 2005. The $140 million resort is being held up until archaeological studies are completed across the entire property.

These projects — a combined $550 million investment — were expected to be under construction by now.

“Interest rates are so high that it’s just too expensive for them to proceed,” D’Iberville City Manager Bobby Weaver said of the developers of Blue Water Beach Sports Illustrated resort.

Interest rates stand at a 22-year high, adding millions to the cost of borrowing money for large projects. Preliminary plans for the resort complex along I-10, south of The Promenade, were for an 11-acre Crystal Lagoon as the centerpiece. The developers planned 200 to 300 hotel rooms, shops, theme restaurants and entertainment such as live music, dance and film festivals.

The resort was expected to draw 1 to 2 million visitors a year.

The mayor and city council extended the agreements to provide incentives to Sports Hospitality Ventures, but those have expired, Weaver said.

So has the contract with the property owner.

D’Iberville isn’t the only city waiting for construction to begin. The developers, who opened the first Sports Illustrated resort in the Dominican Republic, announced plans for another in Orlando at the same time as D’Iberville. Construction hasn’t begun in Florida.

Now the Orlando Business Journal reports Travel + Leisure acquired the rights to the vacation ownership business of Sports Hospitality Ventures — and reveals the first location for a Sports Illustrated-brand of resort will open in 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the University of Alabama.

The partnership between Sports Hospitality Ventures and Travel + Leisure, the report said, is designed to plan sports-themed and active lifestyle resorts in U.S. college towns and leisure destinations.

Whether D’Iberville is still on that list is unclear and developer Sports Hospitality Ventures hasn’t returned the Sun Herald’s request for comment.

Tullis Gardens Resort

The site of Tullis Gardens Resort seems ideal, with its access to the beach across the street and its massive live oak trees. But history may keep it from being built.

Developers Luke and Ashley Lindsey want to build a 200-room hotel and conference center on the eight-acre site at 360 Beach Boulevard, just west of Harrah’s Gulf Coast casino resort.

Last week the Biloxi Council granted a one-year extension to the project. The developers will pay $25,000 to hold the option on the city-owned property. But the $8 million sales price of the land will be reduced by $160,000 to cover the cost of the archaeological digs.

Since April, the developers have been negotiating with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, said Biloxi city attorney Peter Abide. MDAH is putting restrictions on the property before any construction can begin, he said.

Nothing of historical significance has been found on the property recently, but bones were discovered about 25 years ago.

While the developers are only building on about 20% of this property, Abide said MDAH wants digs every 100 feet of the site from Howard Avenue to the beach.

“And that’s still to be done,” Abide said.

Councilman George Lawrence said $25,000 a year to hold the option was too low for what he estimated to be a $10 million property and suggested Biloxi looks for another buyer.

Even if the city found another buyer, the land still will have to clear MDAH restrictions, said Councilman Felix Gines.

When the Maritime and Seafood Museum directors wanted to build on the site after Hurricane Katrina, Lawrence said, it was called an Indian burial ground.

“This thing is set up to try to turn this into building a casino,” Lawrence said. The city council changed the zoning to Waterfront, which is required for a casino to get site approval.

Clearing the MDAH process is critical for the developers to move forward and get Tullis Gardens built, Abide said.

“If they can’t build it, they’re not going to buy the property,” he said .

“You’ve got a major problem,” Lawrence told the council. “You can’t clean it. That’s the problem.”

“It’s unsellable — that’s what you’re saying,” asked Gines.

“Definitely,” Lawrence said.