Main Street Building

Community Partners: Biloxi Housing Authority, Alembic Development

The Main Street Building is an historic commercial building that has served the needs of East Biloxi’s African American community from when it was built in the 1920’s until the 1970’s when Biloxi became less segregated. In more recent years the building has not been fully used but is still in good shape. The two story building has around 10,000 sf on each floor. The Biloxi Housing Authority is planning to restore the historic building with commercial space on the ground floor and convert the second floor into twelve low-income apartments for senior residents.

The project was identified in the Main Street Neighborhood Plan produced by the GCCDS as a key property and a redevelopment opportunity. The GCCDS worked with Alembic Development, a community oriented housing developer, to develop the project plan and assist the Biloxi Housing Authority in applying for funding from Enterprise Community Partners for a Green Communities Grant. The GCCDS will assist the Biloxi Housing Authority in pre-development design and will work in partnership with WFT Architects as the project continues into design and construction documents. WFT Architects will be the project architects.

On projects such as the Main Street Building the GCCDS has an important role to assist a non-profit organization advance a project to the stage where they have funding and a building program and are ready to hire an architectural firm. This type of predevelopment work helps projects happen and creates work for local professionals.