North Delta mega developments to begin.
Two will begin this summer.
By C. Richard Cotton
DBJ Contributing Writer

When it rains, it pours. As regards the area around Tunica Resorts in Robinsonville, Miss., that’s a good thing.
Both Tunica National and Riverbend Crossing are to begin grading work at their respective sites sometime in the summer. The former is in Tunica County, virtually surrounding Tunica National Golf & Tennis, while the latter is right across the line in DeSoto County.

By the time they’re finished out within the next decade or so, millions of dollars worth of
construction will have been completed.

Cody Harrell and Matthew Dunn are co-owners of Resorts Realty, a general real estate company. They are also partners in Dunn & Harrell Development Co. Harrell explains they were able to “put together an investment group” that bought 268 acres around the county-owned golf course from the Penn Owen family.

Harrell doesn’t disclose the purchase price but figures by the time infrastructure, commercial properties and design charges are satisfied at some point in the future, $25 million will have been spent.

Champions Landing, comprising 48 lots approximately 70x150 feet each, and an as yet unnamed 9-acre patio-home tract, are the first two project phases slated for Tunica National. Houses, which are to be constructed by building contractors, will likely begin around $170,000 for patio homes and at $300,000 for the ones in Champions Landing.

They will be followed closely by other residential parcels and commercial properties being developed within Tunica National. But it all takes time.

“We will have a 10-year buildout,” Harrell predicts.

He explains that the design philosophy is “New Urbanism,” exemplified in communities like Seaside, Fla. Streets are flanked by sidewalks, there is lots of greenspace (even constituting the community’s center) and commercial buildings will be integrated with residential components such as loft apartments.

“There will be no big-box stores,” declares Harrell. Instead, the retail offerings will comprise smaller, more customer-friendly shops. And access to the commercial venue will be from inside Tunica National, rather than from U.S. 61, which forms the development’s eastern boundary. “We’ve turned our backs on U.S. 61,” Harrell states.

Tunica National’s prime market, Harrell says, are “retirees and empty-nesters who think this is a good place to settle down”; Memphis residents “who want to get away from the city”; and people in the market for a second home.

The latter category comprises folks who enjoy the gaming and entertainment venues available at the nearby casinos and hunting opportunities around the Delta.

A few miles north, Bill Phillips, president of Riverbend Crossing LLC, is also looking at a mid-summer construction start on his huge development of the same name. The company has options on 5,000 acres of land bordered roughly by the DeSoto-Tunica county line on the south, U.S. 61 on the east and the Mississippi River on the west.

Phillips says he’s counting on the eventual construction of Interstate 69 on the property perimeter to be a big draw. Meanwhile, he plans to begin grading the tract’s 500-acre lake about the same time Tunica National begins its work.

In its finished state, the DeSoto development will include four golf courses, parks, retail centers, churches and a 131-acre family-oriented entertainment complex that could feature anything from movie and live-performance theaters, bowling alley and a host of other possible attractions.

“Our marketing is underway and we have strong commitments,” Phillips says of the retail area he will soon begin building. He doesn’t disclose the possible tenants of that portion.

The 9,500 residential units Phillips envisions will offer many different lifestyle habitats, ranging in price from $250,000 to more than $1.5 million.

Like Harrell, Phillips figures there will be considerable interest for Riverbend Crossing from active adults, especially those over 50 years of age, and families: “There won’t be too many first-time buyers,” he predicts.
Phillips also expects to draw residents from Memphis, as well as other regions of the country, the latter expectation bolstered by studies he has found indicating the Mid-South and Southeastern U.S. will attract up to 70 million people in coming years.

A resident of California, Phillips says he initially heard about a similar project a couple years ago in the DeSoto-Tunica area that never materialized; his interest was piqued and he checked into the feasibility of a Riverbend Crossing-scale development.

“We came, looked and liked what we saw,” he recounts.

Lyn Arnold, executive director of the Tunica Chamber of Commerce, likes what she’s seeing, too.
“We are just thrilled and excited about this,” she states about Tunica National. Her enthusiasm likely spills over to Riverbend Crossing since both Harrell and Phillips look forward to the synergy their simultaneous undertakings are expected to generate.

Arnold again: “It’s nice and it’s upscale and it’s something we’ve needed.” DBJ

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