The historic Salloum building in downtown Gulfport is being transformed into a new boutique hotel and social club.
The Thrash Group, a real estate development firm based in Hattiesburg, will , just north of 14th Street. It鈥檚 within walking distance of the beach, Jones Park, the Mississippi Aquarium and downtown restaurants.
The hotel is less than a 2 hour drive from New Orleans.
Billed on the hotel website as 鈥渁 seductive boutique beauty,鈥 Hotel Vela is expected be ready for its debut this spring or early summer. The 16-room hotel on two levels will be all new, the website says, 鈥測et rooted in a bygone era of sultry jazz and secret speakeasies.鈥
Siren Social Club will add to the experience.
Chef Austin and Tresse Sumrall, who fine dining restaurant and lounge in Biloxi, will craft food and beverages for the seductive restaurant and cocktail bar inside the hotel.
The hotel and restaurant will retain some of the architectural elements of the 1902 building that was enlarged years later when the Salloum family operated a clothing store there. It鈥檚 been empty for years.
A $1 million dollar renovation in 2016 was to see the building become Hotel Vogue, after an owner from New Orleans planned an upscale hotel and restaurant, said Coast realtor and developer Frank Bertucci Jr.
With this new incarnation, guests will feel Gulfport鈥檚 legacy in every original brick and floorboard, the new owners say.聽
It will combine 鈥渂outique amenities and decorative nods to local history and coastal culture.鈥
This is the first hotel in Gulfport for The Thrash Group, which owns Current Apartments in Biloxi. The company develops and builds hotels, restaurants, condominiums, retail, offices, apartments and townhomes.
This story was originally posted by the Sun Herald. for more news about the Mississippi Coast.