Piano bar, hotels, MS Coast’s first food hall and more are on the way to this downtown

Colorful umbrellas overhead, a mural under foot, ribbon cuttings for new restaurants and hammering for businesses soon to open are the sights and sounds in downtown Ocean Springs as the city prepares for a blitz of new business going into 2025.

Every time they visit Ocean Springs there’s something new and different, say Jack and Angie Welch, who frequently drive to South Mississippi from their home in Madison, near Jackson.

“We just love it down here,” she said.

“It’s so eclectic — a little bit of everything,” he said.

New restaurants and shops frequently open in the downtown, adding to the allure that has won the city titles like Best Small Downtown in the U.S. for Shopping and the Most Beautiful Beach Town in the South.

The hotels, restaurants and other businesses coming later this fall and into next year will bring something new and fill voids in the city, said Mayor Kenny Holloway.

Major developments

Four major developments are on the way to Ocean Springs:

▪ OS 1515 Downtown mixed use development will bring two-bedroom lofts with balconies overlooking the downtown, a food hall that will celebrate cuisines of the world, luxury shops and what might be the most welcome amenity of all — a parking garage that will provide additional public spaces in the downtown.

The site at 1515 Government St. was “a vacant lot with busted sidewalks,” Holloway said, before work began on the $40-$50 million downtown project.

Developers John Oropesa and Jim Hardin will open the 32-room boutique hotel and luxury condos in early 2025, and guests and the public will sit down together at Crave Food Hall, raise a toast at Proof Cocktail Bar and gather at The Gallery event space.

▪ The Artisian Hotel and Field’s Italian Restaurant are the latest projects by Field and Jourdan Nicaud in Ocean Springs and will open soon in a newly constructed building on Government Street. Holloway said the adjacent Rooftops building will have a coffee shop and bookstore, along with a rooftop piano bar and more rentals for people to stay in the downtown.

▪ The Pullman House opens in the spring and reservations are being accepted now for stays starting in May. This group travel destination has four townhouses that can accommodate a family reunion, a girls’ getaway or a small wedding.

Guests can walk a block to downtown festivals, shops and restaurants or head to the beach. Pets are allowed at the guesthouse and Marshall Park is right across the street. An 800 square foot commercial space will be leased for a coffee bar or shop to bring people to that corner of Ocean Spring’s Entertainment District.

Jonathan Cothern and Kent Ozborn spent their childhoods visiting the Gulf Coast and now the design professionals, who have extended families in Ocean Springs, are creating a building whose architecture is a nod to the nearby L&N Train Station. They went to the care and expense of having a scan of the live oak trees on the property to determine where they should build, and will share the experience of a Gulf Coast getaway with others.

▪ The Traveler at Walter Anderson Museum of Art will tell the story of Anderson’s worldwide travels and how he always returned home to Ocean Springs. A house adjacent to the museum is being transformed into a restaurant and exhibit space with gardens visitors can wander when The Traveler opens early next year.

Chef Nick Wallace will showcase his Mississippi modern cuisine at the Hen & Egg restaurant at The Traveler. A Mississippi native, he has appeared on “Chopped” and “Chopped Champions” on the Food Network and on season 19 of Bravo’s “Top Chef.”

In addition to these big projects are several new businesses recently opened or on the way to the downtown. Oak & Vine Whiskey & Wine on DeSoto Street features wine flights, mimosa towers and charcuterie. Open just down the street is I Am Healthlete, a health food restaurant. McKinney’s Irish Pub that opened this summer and several new shops on Government Street add to the mix.

Work continues at the Ocean Springs Collective on Porter Avenue, outside of the downtown, and in other areas of the city. Holloway said.

Change is coming

“The town’s going to grow,” said Mayor Kenny Holloway. Developers are buying every empty storefront and lot and will build what the property is zoned for, both commercial and infill residential.

It’s a balancing act, he, said, and it’s important “to make sure we do something that fits in with the character and the culture of the city.”

The Ocean Springs Historic District design guidelines are written to keep new development cohesive, coordinating the color of the building, the look of the porches and the style of windows and doors so new construction fits with the existing character.

Residents of Ocean Springs crowd development meetings and post on social media the message they don’t want their town to change. While they are protective of the charm and the stately trees, they also enjoy try each new restaurant and shopping the new stores and await the parking garage that will make it easier to find a parking place on Saturday nights and during events.

So many downtowns across the country have boarded up businesses and empty streets. Mississippi House Speaker Jason White said other small cities in the state would love to have the kind of development that Ocean Springs and South Mississippi are experiencing, Holloway said.

Experiences abound

Events like the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival that will fill the downtown Saturday and Sunday bring visitors and Coast residents to Ocean Springs. Festivals and events are the main way the Ocean Streets Main Street organization generates such a robust sense of place, says Cynthia Sutton, executive director of Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce — Main Street — Tourism Bureau.

“We host more than a dozen festivals or community driven events that help our small businesses sustain,”” she said. “These events have been strategically designed to generate tourism traffic and sales tax that leads to business growth, property values and the want to be a piece of the activity.”

Nearly 400 artists from across the country will be at the Anderson Festival, she said. and families plan family reunions and holiday shopping around the festival — “a clear example of the importance of Main Street and events in the community of Ocean Springs,” she said.

Ravin Floyd Nettles, executive assistant to the mayor and Aldermen in Ocean Springs added the colorful umbrella sky to the downtown.

“I’ve seen this installation in other cities,” she said, and now colorful umbrellas “float” over Cash Alley. She worked with the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, with Sarah Qarqish, director of Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center an the Mayor’s Youth Council to add a mural to the street that is closed so kids can play while they eat a popsicle.

“It literally is the place to be,” she said of this oasis and the bustling downtown.

On Tuesday, Ocean Springs hosted a group of Senate and House tourism committee members to thank them for their generosity, Holloway said, and show them what’s happening in the downtown.

“We’re looking for funds to do projects,” he said, like creating gateway entrances to the city. The impression the city gave the legislators, he said: “We’re a good investment.”