Businessman Jim Parrish claims in a lawsuit that his plans for a casino are being undermined by Long Beach Mayor Tim Pierce, who has instead worked with a Florida real estate developer and others to bring a casino to Long Beach.
Parrish is asking Chancery Court Judge Carter Bise to declare valid his company’s long-term lease on city harbor property. Pierce has been saying Parrish’s long-term lease on the harbor property is month-to-month and can be terminated, the lawsuit says.
Parrish’s company, Long Beach Harbor Resort LLC, is suing Pierce, the city and members of the Board of Aldermen. The company is asking Bise to enforce a 2010 lease between the company and city. Harbor Resort contends the lease doesn’t expire until February 2030, with options to renew.
Pierce would not comment on the newly filed lawsuit. The city has not had time to file its response.
The waterfront lease is crucial because it potentially gives Parrish the ability to develop a landside casino across Beach Boulevard on vacant property where a Kmart and a grocery store once stood. Hurricane Katrina wiped away the buildings in 2005. After the hurricane, the Legislature agreed casinos, previously confined to the water, could be developed landside if directly tied to waterfront property.
Artist’s rendering of a casino previously proposed by Long Beach Harbor Resort LLC on the old Kmart property on U.S. 90 The company was unable to acquire the land and has filed a lawsuit against the city over its harbor lease, where Parrish’s Restaurant and Lounge is located.
Sun Herald file
Past casino efforts fail in Long Beach
Harbor Resort had been trying to acquire the 12-acre property since at least 2018, when it announced an option to purchase the land. At that time, the city was behind Parrish’s casino plans.
But Harbor Resort was unable to close the deal by a March 2025 deadline.
The lawsuit says five unnamed rivals for a casino interfered with Harbor Resort’s plans. Pierce encouraged those unnamed individuals, along with a Florida real estate developer, to consider developing a casino, which would include using the land Harbor Resort leases, the lawsuit says.
The city held a closed session in August 2025 on another proposed harbor lease that would include the property Harbor Resort leases, plus tidelands under city control. No action was taken after the session.
Harbor Resort and others have tried for years to develop a casino in Long Beach. In 2016, Harbor Resort was prepared to pay $1.5 million for Long Beach Yacht Club property for a casino in the harbor.
Before Parrish came along, the leaseholder on the Harbor Resort property, Jimmy Levens, told the Sun Herald that he had an option on the Kmart property. However, he was never able to acquire it.
While Levens held the lease, an elevated building with a restaurant and lounge was built on the property. Residents have said the structure looks like a spaceship or “submarine in the sky.” Parrish’s Restaurant and Lounge is now located in the building, but the lawsuit claims Pierce could drive the restaurant out of business with his claims about the invalid lease.
The lawsuit was filed by Frederick T. Hoff Jr. and Henry Laird of Wise Carter Child & Caraway in Gulfport. (Laird has long served as an attorney for the Sun Herald.)
It says Harbor Resort hopes to discover the identities of the five unnamed individuals, referred to as defendants John Does 1-5, during the pre-trial investigations phase of the lawsuit, when attorneys can subpoena witnesses and information.
Sun Herald staff writer Mary Perez contributed to this report.