“Project Sky” is the alias I assigned to this project when I first became involved in the recruitment and process to bring it to Southaven in 2017!  I called it this because I wanted to see something different here that changed the skyline.  After countless discussions, Project Sky is about to become reality in Southaven, bringing the first-ever full-service hotel to Desoto County.  This beautiful, skyline-changing, $65-million development will be a 7-story, 240-room hotel on 6 acres at Pepper Chase/Venture Rds with a 10,000 square-foot restaurant, 3,554 square feet of meeting space, fitness/yoga room, lobby workstation, lazy river, and resort-style swimming pool, all connected via covered walkway to a newly-expanded convention center at the Landers Center.

This entire project is a three-pronged partnership including the City of Southaven, Desoto County, and the Desoto County Convention & Visitors Bureau to incentivize private hotelier, Premier Lodging, LLC to build the private hotel development and attach it to the new convention center.  The convention center expansion at the Landers Center was critical in attracting this high-quality hotel.  Desoto County has agreed to issue bonds for $38.5 million along with a $17 million cash investment by the DCCVB for the new 275,000 square-foot convention center that will be built adjacent and just north of the current Landers Center facility, which will further connect to the hotel on the north end.  The City of Southaven’s Board of Aldermen voted in favor of allowing the Mississippi Development Authority’s Tourism Rebate Program for a sales tax incentive to the hotelier to make the hotel financially feasible. 

Construction of both the convention center and hotel are projected to begin simultaneously in the third quarter of 2023 with completion and opening projected in 2025.  This will become the only convention center in the state of Mississippi with a hotel on site.

This project, along with Tanger Outlets, will become the cornerstones of tremendous future development in the Metropolitan District (Church Road from Pepper Chase to Elmore Rds) creating a new tourism draw for the entire county of Desoto that has never existed before as economic spillover will transcend Southaven.  These are strong words, but I sincerely believe this development will positively impact Desoto County’s future more than any other. 

Congratulations to Northpoint Christian School on the celebration of 50 years in providing Christian-principled educational opportunities for our community!

NCS, and formerly SBEC, has been an educational pillar in our city for many years and provided a solid foundation for many students.  Many graduates have also returned to reinvest in our community as educators, pastors, and business leaders.

Please join me in congratulations as I’ve proclaimed April 1, 2023 as NCS Day in Southaven!

Recently, the Board of Aldermen accepted the lowest bid of $2,834,002.13 to begin a massive enhancement of numerous neighborhood parks throughout our city.  This project is part of an aggressive, larger-scale plan to take our successful parks system in Southaven to an even greater plateau, further improving our recreational value in appealing to even more citizens.  During my time as Mayor since mid-2013, we’ve invested over $35 million into our parks and recreation system.  The overwhelming majority of this funding has come from the 1% restaurant tourism tax.  Many of the previous expenditures have been expansion projects that added opportunities for new recreations for our citizens while also enhancing tourism appeal which has subsidized our parks operation and added relief to the general fund burden.  Our plan has been enormously successful both from an amenities and financial standpoint.   Now, we’re in a position to make a tremendous investment into our neighborhood parks and further improve the quality of life for more of our citizens.

A summary of these enhancements is as follows:

Cherry Valley Park…resurfaced walking trail & new playground

Brookhaven Park…resurfaced walking trail, new pavilion & new bridge

Jim Saucier Park...resurfaced walking trail

Greenbrook Lake Park…resurfaced walking trail & new playground

Hal Guthrie Park…resurfaced walking trail, new pavilion & new playground

Summerwood Park…new pavilion

Southern Pines Park…new pavilion & new bridge

Swinnea Park…new pavilion

W.E. Ross Park…resurfaced walking trail

Ross Pointe Farms Park…new 10-ft multi-use trail & new pavilion

Trinity Pointe Park…resurfaced walking trail, new pavilion & new bridge

Plum Point Park…new walking trail & new pavilion

Central Park…resurfaced walking trail with expanded route, new 10-ft multi-use trail connecting Swinnea & Tchulahoma, new pavilion & two new bridges

Snowden House Front Yard Park…resurfaced walking trail  

Construction is projected to start near May 1 with completion in February, 2024. In addition to this project, new rubberized surfaces will be added to several playgrounds and general playground equipment maintenance will continue as needed, funded by our general fund budget line specifically for neighborhood parks.