New subdivision helps Tunica County’s housing shortage Development boasts Robinsonville’s needed housing

By C. RICHARD COTTON
DBJ Contributing Writer

Jerome Crawford found a place with a housing shortage. And the CEO of San Diego-based International Builders Limited (IBL) plans to do what he can to ease that crunch.

Dirt is being moved to build IBL’s sprawling subdivision in Tunica County, which was nationally ranked 65th in construction of housing units from April 2000 to July 2003 by the U.S. Census Bureau. With an increase of 511 units during that time, Tunica County (3,705 to 4,216 units) enjoyed 13.8 percent growth in housing.

Crawford’s company will eventually add another 639 homes on the 196-acre Pecan Grove development east of U.S. 61 in the Robinsonville area of north Tunica County.

“We were looking at possible projects in Memphis, Tennessee,” Crawford recalled, “when someone told us there is a tremendous shortage of housing in Tunica.”

Casinos and their thousands of workers have driven the demand for housing. That demand has spilled over into neighboring DeSoto County – or it has been vice versa, with DeSoto’s skyrocketing growth spilling over into Tunica – which was ranked 25th on the list. DeSoto and Tunica are the only Mississippi counties to make the list.

From its place at the bottom of the heap less than two decades ago, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson labeled Tunica’s “Sugar Ditch” neighborhood “America’s Ethiopia,” times have changed. Casinos have brought prosperity and opportunity.

Pecan Grove’s houses will comprise 1,600-2,300 square feet of living area on 11,000- to 20,000-square-foot lots. Prices range from $166,000 to $200,000. Planned amenities include a manmade lake and adjacent park.

Crawford said mortgage financing is being furnished by Bank of America, which has historically been a California-focused institution. The bank, Crawford explained, wants to expand real estate activity outside of California to growth areas where property values and taxes are more affordable than they are there.

Tunica County, Crawford figures, is a win-win situation for both IBL and Bank of America.

“We think it is an excellent marketing opportunity,” Crawford declared.

And IBL is not alone, according to Gary Copeland, Tunica County’s director of planning and development; Tunica Development Initiative plans to construct a golf-course development near the old town area of Robinsonville, west of U.S. 61.

The TDI firm’s plans for Indian Creek subdivision include a 720-acre gated community surrounding its golf course. Copeland said the 18-hole course will be the fourth within a radius of several miles.

“We think there is room for another golf course,” Copeland said. A county-owned golf course and tennis complex opened recently nearby.

Indian Creek will be built in phases, eventually reaching completion with 1,200 homes. They will be a variety, ranging from large executive homes to clusters of patio homes. Copeland said developers want Indian Creek to be a retirement-focused endeavor.

“For (Tunica County), we’ve had a little bit of a housing boom,” observed Lyn Arnold, executive director of the Tunica Chamber of Commerce.

Arnold said Tunica’s low land prices and property taxes augmented by casino revenues that exceed $20 million annually are surefire selling points for developers: “Some larger cities’ prices are inflated so much,” she remarked.

While Arnold and other officials are actively engaged in making Tunica County a resort destination, she predicted that “the next wave of growth” will be industrial and residential.

“This is the place to be right now if you’re a developer,” said Crawford. DBJ