A developer wants to build a resort on the property in DeSoto County where Elvis and Priscilla Presley spent their honeymoon in 1967. J. B. 'Chase' Stacy said he has options to buy land near Goodman Road and Miss. 301 and will go before the DeSoto County Planning Commission Feb. 28 to seek zoning for the $500 million development. The plans include two championship golf courses, retail, entertainment and residential areas, and replicas of the famed honeymoon cottage for rent. Stacy said he holds options on more than 500 acres south of Goodman Road, including the old Presley property, about 200 acres north of Goodman, and more land west of Miss. 301.
His attorneys, Stacy said, believe he won't need permission from Elvis Presley Enterprises to use the name "Elvis Presley Ranch" because the ranch once belonged to the entertainer. Elvis Presley Enterprises exercises tight control over the use of Presley's name. Stacy said groundbreaking is targeted for August on the anniversary of Elvis's death. Completion would be roughly 24 months later. Stacy expects to have 2,500 construction workers involved in the project and to create at least 2,500 jobs when the development is finished.
The reaction of EPE:
"Mr. Stacy has not approached us," Jack Soden of EPE said. "If he had, we probably could have saved him some money. If he thinks he's entitled to exploit a trademarked, copyrighted name just because Elvis Presley owned that farm for a short period of time, (that) is a shaky legal situation."