Myriad Entertainment & Resorts, Inc.(fka MYRA)

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Why read that old junk when we can read the tunicatimes?


Myriad strikes deal with Tunica family
Meg Coker 31.JUL.08

After years of stops and starts, a proposed $1 billion gaming development in northern Tunica County may soon materialize.

On July 15, representatives with the Myriad Casino entered into a $36 million deal for the purchase of approximately 250 acres of land owned by Shea Leatherman and Mrs. Neely Grant. The site was once the home of Treasure Bay casino. Kenneth M. Murphree, LLC brokered the deal between the seller and purchaser for the site that once housed the Treasure Bay casino.

According to the contract filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Myriad “is in the process of planning a destination resort and casino facility to be located in Tunica County, Mississippi.” Engineer John Almond of Allen and Hoshall, who is affiliated with the project, indicated that the principals will meet to discuss development details next month. He speculated that the project will likely include a casino, hotel and an attraction, which could be a snow or ice feature. A golf course may be constructed offsite, as well.

Almond, who reported that Allen and Hoshall is very familiar with the property after designing Treasure Bay, said earthwork at the site may begin in late 2008. Actual construction will likely begin in the spring of 2009. SEC paperwork reports that Myriad officials are set to close on the land on Dec. 2, 2008.

Almond said officials with the project are “glad to see this happen” and believe the Myriad will “help our market and our state.”

In a press release issued following a story on The Tunica Times website, Myriad officials said they’ve been eyeing the new site for some time.

“This new location for the Myriad development was the result of a study done by GVA Marquette Advisors of Minneapolis analyzing multiple locations for the building of this project,” Nicolas Lopardo, Myriad’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and temporary CEO. “The Treasure Bay location was the original chosen site of the Myriad management team over four years ago, however an option was never able to be consummated. It is aniticpated that this new site will require Myriad to spend substantially less in infrastructure costs than the previously designated site.”

Myriad will pay $100,000 each month until the December closing, when they are slated to pay landowners $35.5 million. SEC paperwork also notes that Picture Window LLC will receive whichever is more between “an amount equal to two percent of the gross gaming revenue derived from any and all gaming or gambling activities conducted on the property” or a minimum annual payment of $2 million in the first year. The minimum annual payments increase over the years through the fifth year, when it levels out at $4 million. According to the contract, Murphree will receive a six percent commission from the seller and “.12 percent of the grossing gaming revenue or the minimim annual payment, whichever is greater” from Myriad.

Should Myriad fail to meet the stipulations of the contract, they will forfeit the monthly payments of $100,000.

When the Myriad is completed, it will join nine casinos and resorts located in Tunica County.

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