casino-station


Grand Station Casino and Hotel in Vicksburg(Photo: Special to the Clarion-Ledger)



Two years after it closed, one of the first casinos to open in Vicksburg remains alive — in new and ongoing lawsuits in two states.


A Texas consulting firm is suing several investment groups it claims haven’t paid for the services it provided in the ultimately fruitless attempt to redevelop the now-shuttered Grand Station Casino and Hotel in Vicksburg.


BOS Consulting LLC is seeking more than $1 million, against M Street Investments, Great Southern Investments Group Inc. and DeSota Island Inc.


In February 2012, BOS agreed to serve as a consultant for the three companies in a two-phase effort in which DeSota was formed to buy the casino while M Street would buy all outstanding stock in Great Southern, which owned the hotel. The entities were then to embark on redeveloping the properties as a “casino, hotel and mixed-use entertainment venue,” according to the lawsuit.


In phase one, BOS said it was to receive a fee of $150,000 per month for 12 months as it “prepared schematic plans, specifications, and programming plans and managed pre-opening activities for the remodel of the casino.” While the lawsuit doesn’t specify the amount it argues BOS is owed, the firm would have earned $1.8 million for its phase one work alone.


In phase two, BOS would get the same amount each month or 3 percent of gross gaming revenue plus 10 percent of net revenue for the hotel and casino, whichever was greater, as well as a 1 percent ownership interest, the company claims.


BOS also gave the hotel operators $100,000 to cover operating expenses. But Hurricane Isaac severely damaged the hotel in August 2012, an event that led to its closure, and the consulting firm said it never received its money for the first phase work. In July 2013, more than a year after the casino shut down, Great Southern sold the 117-room hotel to Vicksburg Hotel LLC, which itself plans to redevelop the building as a new hotel.


M Street and Great Southern have a separate lawsuit pending in Warren County Chancery Court against several individuals and companies they contend have tried repeatedly to improperly thwart the hotel sale.


The BOS suit was filed in Dallas County, Texas, District Court. J. Robert Arnett II, BOS’ attorney, couldn’t be reached for comment. Ridgeland attorney John Moore, listed in the suit as “registered agent for service of process” for the defendants, wouldn’t comment but said he wouldn’t be acting as counsel for the investment groups in this case because he isn’t licensed to practice law in Texas. He said he isn’t familiar with BOS.


Grand Station opened in 1993 and was among the first gaming properties in Vicksburg, a city whose casinos were instrumental in Mississippi establishing itself as the nation’s third-biggest casino market, trailing only Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J.


Contact Jeff Ayres at (601) 961-7050 or jeff.ayres@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jeffayres71 on Twitter.


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