Developer hopes Mississippi won't be cruel

Las Vegas may have been the glitzy site of Elvis and Priscilla Presley's 1967 wedding, but a Georgia developer is gambling that fans will also flock to the couple's honeymoon spot near Horn Lake, Miss.

On Feb. 28, Atlanta businessman J.D. Stacy was to appear before the Desoto County (Miss.) Planning Commission to seek approval of zoning changes for his proposed $500 million Elvis Presley Ranch and Resort. Planned for a 2004 opening on the 25th anniversary of the rock icon's death, Stacy's development would feature two 500-room hotels, a convention center, three golf courses, a 5,000-seat concert hall, 1,200-seat movie theater, plus wedding chapels and honeymoon cottages. Gresham Smith & Partners, Alpharetta, Ga., is the project's architect and master planner.

Even if Desoto County approves the project, as expected, Memphis-based Elvis Presley Enterprises—the notoriously litigious guardian of Elvis' name and likeness—still has to give its own nod. At press time, Todd Morgan, EPE's director of creative services, said he had not yet been contacted by Stacy.