Sale of Ocean Expo Property

In 2010, the City of D’iberville entered into an agreement to purchase roughly 6.5 acres at the I-10/ I-110 corridor with the promise that a world class aquarium would be built there. In 2011, the city incurred $4,000,000 of debt in the form of a revenue bond to be supported by ticket sales at the new aquarium. The promises of aquarium developers provide to be fruitless and the city has been working on selling/ developing said property since 2013. Since the original indebtness, the city has paid $1,137,134.38 in principal and interest payments. The city currently owes $3,535,000 to pay off the bond. As of January 27, 2016 the city has sold the property for more than the city’s original purchase price with a final purchase price of 46,810,000.00. As part of the agreement and remuneration, RAMCO has provided the city with fee simple ownership of a $2 million parcel of property to be used by the city as its new public works facility, forgiveness of a $1,669,600.00 promissory note and payment of the remaining balance being paid in cash to the city. Further, the property purchased by RAMCO REAL ESTATE LCC, from whom the city purchased the property in 2011, will be the location of two new automobile dealerships, which are projected to generate $600,000 per year in tax revenue and create 40 new permanent jobs. These revenue projects are better than the projects for the aquarium by nearly double.