September 10, 2026
Did you feel the squeeze on Sangani Boulevard back in the spring, when a two-phase utility project narrowed the corridor near Mallett Road down to one lane at a time? If you run a business along that stretch, you remember it well. What most residents never connected is that this short-term disruption had almost nothing to do with the bigger story that has been unfolding two exits away all year.
D'Iberville's commercial map is not growing in one direction at one speed. It is splitting into three separate build-outs, each at a different stage, and each on a different side of Interstate 10. The Promenade, the shopping center that has defined this city's identity since 2009, is essentially full and just changed hands for tens of millions of dollars. A second zone west across the interstate has its land secured and its financing approved, with construction expected to start within the next several months. A third zone further south is still just a conversation between the mayor and interested retailers, with no contracts and no timeline. If you live here, understanding which of these three you are actually hearing about matters more than the headlines suggest.
The Promenade sold in July 2025 for a reported $83.1 million at an 8.5 percent cap rate, and it changed hands with occupancy sitting near 100 percent. That is not a shopping center looking for tenants. It is a stabilized asset that institutional buyers were willing to pay a premium for, and the two pieces of "new" retail news locals have actually seen this year are both about filling the last gaps in that already-full center, not expanding it.
The former Red Lobster space at 3897 Promenade Parkway sat vacant since the chain closed in May 2024. City officials told WLOX in early August that Texas Roadhouse was working toward taking over the space, with the proposal set for a planning commission vote on August 25. It would be the second Texas Roadhouse location in South Mississippi, joining the Gulfport restaurant on Daniel Boulevard.
At the same time, the last undeveloped parcel at One Promenade, the outparcel cluster that already includes Hobby Lobby, Arby's, Zaxby's, Chipotle, Navigator Credit Union, Discount Tire and Jiffy Lube, is being built out with a Tractor Supply. It will be the eighth Tractor Supply location in South Mississippi, sitting roughly midway between the company's Ocean Springs and Gulfport stores.
Both of these are genuine additions to daily life here. Neither of them represents growth. They represent a mature retail center finishing its last construction punch list.
The real expansion is happening on the other side of the interstate, on land that has sat vacant for years southwest of The Promenade near Mandal Parkway. The D'Iberville City Council approved an agreement that returns sales tax generated by a future BJ's Wholesale Club back into the infrastructure costs for that land, the kind of financing arrangement that signals a city actively courting a specific tenant rather than reacting to one. City Manager Bobby Weaver pursued BJ's directly, and if the deal closes as expected, it will be the first BJ's Wholesale location in Mississippi.
The same 50-acre tract is also bringing the first Coast-area location of Miskelly Furniture and Mattress, a company that has operated in Mississippi since 1978 with its nearest existing store in Hattiesburg. Construction on both projects is expected to start late in 2026 or early in 2027. Christy Duggan, the city's planning and zoning director, has said she expects more development to follow once the anchor tenants break ground.
This is the zone to watch if you want to know what D'Iberville looks like in two years. It is not open yet. It is not even under vertical construction yet. But the land is spoken for and the financing is signed, which puts it in a different category than either of the other two zones.
| Zone | Status as of September 2026 | What's landing there | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Promenade (opened 2009) | Sold for $83.1 million in July 2025; near full occupancy | Texas Roadhouse in the former Red Lobster space; Tractor Supply on the last open parcel at One Promenade | Planning commission reviewed the Texas Roadhouse proposal August 25 |
| West of I-10 near Mandal Parkway | Infrastructure financing approved; land secured, ground not yet broken | Mississippi's first BJ's Wholesale Club; the Coast's first Miskelly Furniture and Mattress | Construction expected late 2026 or early 2027 |
| Near Old Highway 67, south of Popp's Ferry Road | No signed tenants; city describes active retailer interest | One larger anchor plus roughly six smaller national chains, per city officials | Years out, nothing finalized |
That third row is worth sitting with. Mayor Rusty Quave told WLOX back in March that a major retailer was already looking at the site, and that it would likely anchor a handful of smaller national chains around it. Nothing reported since has moved that status forward.
"Across the street, we have a major store looking there," Quave said.
Nothing there is signed. City officials themselves describe development on that parcel as still years out. It is real interest, not a real project yet, and the distinction matters if you are trying to figure out what changes your daily routine versus what is still speculation.
None of the three zones above explain the traffic cones that sat near Sangani Boulevard and Mallett Road earlier this year. That work was a separate two-phase utility and traffic project, and it landed squarely on small, locally owned businesses rather than the national chains getting all the press.
Emmanuel Albert owns three businesses along that stretch: Quickly Asian Fusion Cafe, the claw-machine arcade Emmay and Hero Claw Kingdom, and Chamay Asian Street Food. He told WLOX in April that sales had stalled since the work began. The contractor estimated each phase could take up to seven days, with the city hoping to finish sooner. It was a short window of disruption set against a multi-year retail build-out, but it was the part of this story that residents felt in real time, and it hit a different set of businesses than the ones opening two exits west.
The Promenade's sale and the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort's ownership change are, on their face, two unrelated transactions. Ilitch Companies has agreed to acquire Scarlet Pearl, one of D'Iberville's largest employers, pending gaming commission approval, with the deal expected to close by the end of 2026. Scarlet Pearl's outgoing CEO, LuAnn Pappas, framed it this way:
"We are confident Scarlet Pearl is positioned for continued success."
Put next to each other, a shopping center trading hands at an $83.1 million valuation and a casino resort changing owners in the same twelve months tell you something a single headline would not. Outside capital is treating D'Iberville's commercial base as a stabilized, investable market rather than a growth bet. That is a different city than the one that opened The Promenade in 2009 as an open question about whether Gulf Coast retail could support a 600,000-plus square foot center at all.
For residents, the practical takeaway is timing. The stores you may see open this year, Texas Roadhouse and Tractor Supply, are filling gaps in a center that is already finished growing. The stores that represent real expansion, BJ's and Miskelly, haven't broken ground yet and won't open for months at the earliest. The traffic disruption on Sangani Boulevard belonged to neither story, and it already passed. And the biggest anchor still being discussed for the city's southern edge doesn't have a signed tenant at all.
D'Iberville is changing in real time, just not all at once, and not in the order the headlines might suggest.
If you're curious how these shifts in D'Iberville's commercial corridors are shaping home values and buyer interest across the Biloxi and D'Iberville area, the team at HL Raymond Properties tracks this market block by block. Discover Gulf Coast Living with a group that knows which changes are already here and which ones are still years out.
At HL Raymond Properties, your goals are our priority. Whether buying or selling, we bring strategy, care, and professionalism to every step of the process.