BILOXI — MVB Holding will vacate the former Margaritaville Casino Biloxi building by midnight Oct. 27 and it will be turned over to the property owners under an agreement reached in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Katharine Samson, U.S. bankruptcy judge, signed the agreement Oct. 1 that says Clay Point LLC would immediately be given keys to the building but can’t remove any property or interfere with the removal of any slot machines.

"All gaming equipment is leaving the building," said Robert Byrd, the bankruptcy attorney for MVB, which operated the casino in East Biloxi since 2012.

Byrd was at the former casino this week and described it as "kind of an eerie feeling;" quiet and with no lights or chimes from the games. "It’s surprisingly clean, well ordered, not cluttered," he said.

Representatives of Clay Point LLC were at the building all morning, he said, and are in dispute about what property stays and what can leave the building.

"Everything in there is leased, down to the salt and pepper shakers," Byrd said. The elevators, escalators, bar stools, kitchen equipment, buffet furniture — even the HVAC and surveillance equipment is leased, he said.

The number of employees is down to 60, and he said by Thursday that will probably be cut in half.

"All employees have been paid," he said, Although the casino closed Sept. 15, he said, the employees got paid through Sept. 19, two months after they were notified of the potential closing under the WARN Act, or Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

There still is an issue with employees’ medical claims, he said, because the casino provided self-funded medical benefits.

What won’t go with the building when it transfers to the property owner is the license to operate a casino, and the Margaritaville franchise.

"It was specific to MVB," Bryd said of the franchise agreement.

State Gaming Commission regulations say the building can’t reopen as a casino unless it has a 300-room hotel, an upscale restaurant and an amenity that would make it unique and draw new people to the market.

Under the Oct. 1 agreement, Clay Point dropped its demand for rent beyond the agreement, but still can file a claim for any amount due under the lease.

MVB will be allowed to remove business records and equipment and Byrd said he hoped all the slot equipment will be back with the manufacturers by the time MVB leaves the building.

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