The Quote That Explains Why Beach Boulevard Is Getting a Four-Story Arcade

Miles Corbitt didn't set out to explain downtown's entertainment problem. He was just talking about his daughter. When WLOX asked the Bay Play co-owner why he thought Bay St. Louis needed a four-story arcade, his answer wasn't about tourism numbers or foot traffic. It was about where his kid actually goes after school: coffee shops, and that's about it.

That line is doing more work than it looks like it's doing. It's the reason a former real estate office at 105 N. Beach Boulevard is now a construction site instead of a parking lot, and it's the reason the building going up in its place has a design logic that's easy to miss if you only skim the headline.

What's Actually Going Up at 105 N. Beach Boulevard

The old commercial building on that waterfront lot has already been torn down. In its place, developers are planning a four-story project they're calling Bay Play, described in local coverage as a "bar-cade": part arcade, part adult hangout, stacked on top of each other rather than crammed into one open floor plan.

According to reporting from Hoodline and WXXV News 25, the layout breaks down like this:

• First floor: a redemption center where kids trade tickets for prizes
• Second and third floors: arcade games and ticketed attractions, with a rotating mix of new and retro machines, from claw cranes to car and bike-riding games
• Fourth floor: an adults-only rooftop bar with games like beer pong, plus private-party space for birthdays, corporate events, and gatherings

Renderings shared with reporters show a turquoise exterior and a vintage boardwalk-style sign, which tracks with the beachfront setting. But the signage isn't the interesting part. The floor-by-floor split is.

The Family Behind It Isn't New to Downtown

Corbitt is developing Bay Play alongside brothers Jourdan and Field Nicaud, who aren't first-time operators testing out Bay St. Louis. Field Nicaud already runs Field's, a steak and oyster bar that's become one of the more recognizable dinner spots downtown, and the Bay Play plan includes a food partnership with that restaurant rather than a standalone kitchen. The Nicaud name also shows up on Pass Bungalows, a short-term rental property in nearby Pass Christian, and on other hospitality projects the brothers have introduced along the Mississippi shoreline, including additional restaurant concepts under their broader group.

That matters for one reason: this isn't a single speculative build by outside investors betting on a trend. It's another project from operators who already have capital and reputation tied up in this specific stretch of coast. When the same names keep showing up on new construction, it tends to say more about where they think the town is headed than any single press release does.

The Gap Everyone Already Knew About

Corbitt's coffee-shop comment lines up almost exactly with what the city's own planning department says. Jeremy Burke, Bay St. Louis's Director of Planning, told WXXV that the town has plenty going on for adults but has been short on options for kids and teenagers specifically.

"We can all agree that we have a lot of stuff to do for families, adults, sometimes lacking stuff for kids and teenagers to do is one of the things, and they're trying to fill the void."

Corbitt made the same point from the other direction, pointing out that Bay St. Louis used to have a skating rink and a movie theater, both now gone, and that nothing has really replaced them. That's not a criticism of the restaurant scene, which by most measures downtown is doing fine. It's a specific observation about a specific age group having nowhere to go that isn't a dinner table or a coffee counter.

Why the Floors Don't Talk to Each Other

This is the part of the Bay Play plan that's easy to read past. The developers didn't design one open venue that serves everyone at once. They stacked it: kids and families on the lower three floors, adults on a separate rooftop level above them, with the two groups largely operating on different clocks. Afternoon arcade traffic downstairs, later-night bar crowds up top, with minimal overlap between them.

That's not an accident. A single shared space trying to be both an after-school hangout and a late-night bar tends to satisfy neither crowd particularly well. Separating them by floor, and implicitly by time of day, lets the building serve two different needs without either one crowding out the other. It's a structural answer to a problem that's usually solved, if at all, by just picking one audience and disappointing the other.

What to Watch For Between Now and Early 2027

When developers went public with the project in February, Bay Play didn't have a formal opening date. They said they were hoping to open in early 2027, but were just as clear that city permits and the construction schedule would decide the real timeline. The demolition at 105 N. Beach Boulevard was already finished, and developers said at the time that groundbreaking on the new structure was coming soon.

Six months out from that announcement, no updated public timeline has surfaced. That's normal for a project of this size moving through permitting. It also means anyone walking that stretch of Beach Boulevard this fall has a real reason to look up: this is the point in the process where a torn-down lot either starts turning into a four-story frame or stays quiet a while longer.

If you already live in Old Town or Beach Boulevard's immediate radius, this is one of those developments worth tracking not because it changes anything about your daily routine yet, but because it's a real answer to a complaint locals have been making for years without much movement behind it. A skating rink and a movie theater left. Nobody replaced them. Now someone finally is, and the reason it's arcade games instead of another restaurant traces straight back to Miles Corbitt noticing where his own daughter actually spends her afternoons.

Keeping an eye on projects like this is part of understanding how a neighborhood is actually changing, not just how it's marketed. If you're curious about what else is shifting in Old Town Bay St. Louis, or you want to talk through what a walkable, amenity-rich address near all of this looks like, 124 Court is a good place to start that conversation.