If the $450-million mixed-use casino project in D’Iberville, MS looks and feels like it could fit in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, that’s because the man behind it has plenty of experience in those markets.

George Toth, CEO of CanCan Development, previously worked as president of the Sands in Atlantic City and the chief operating officer of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. Now he’s putting the finishing touches on plans for the new 18-acre CanCan Casino Resort less than a mile from Biloxi.

The French-themed mixed-use development will feature a 60,000 square-foot casino with 1,800 slot machines, 46 table games and 16 live poker tables, along with meeting space, 90,000 square feet of retail (restaurants, night clubs and shops), a free-standing wedding chapel and 550 hotel rooms. Three hundred of those rooms will be in a freestanding French-themed four-star quality hotel, while 250 will be part of the casino-resort.

Toth is waiting for final approval from the municipality and expects to break ground this summer and to open in the first half of 2013.

“We expect this project to serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of the area and the entire Gulf Coast region,” he says of the markets still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and last year’s BP oil spill.

The project will be the first new ground-up casino in the Biloxi area since Katrina and will boost the local economy with 2,000 new jobs and a projected $260 million in gross revenue, he says. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, the area lost 5,000 hotel rooms and an estimated five million annual visitors.

“The area is making huge strides to come back,” says Toth, adding that gross gaming revenue was up in January (7%) after modest gains last year. “That’s not even during the busy months. It’s very encouraging for operators down here and this development will help everyone.”

Internationally acclaimed architectural firm Leo A Daly will design the CanCan Casino Resort & Spa and the French village. Toth’s company will operate the casino and the stand-alone hotel. He’s talked to several brand companies like Marriott, Starwood and Wyndham about the French-themed hotel, but nothing has been decided yet.

The project is almost completely financed privately through two major banks and an equity partnership, but some local incentives are coming as a result of the agreement for a French-themed village.