Designating the downtown blocks that include two of Jackson’s popular restaurants and bars as an entertainment district was a long time coming, said the owner of one of the businesses.
“It’s a chapter that dates back to the plans for Old Capitol Green,” said Joseph Stodghill, owner of Martin’s Downtown and Martin’s at Livingston.
The Old Capitol Green project, which promised to redevelop 14 square blocks bordered by State, Jefferson, Commerce and Pearl streets, never came to fruition after being announced in 2006.
Stodghill is pleased that Martin’s and Hal & Mal’s fall in the entertainment district, which means the business owners can receive state tax deductions, rebates and incentives after they make improvements to their buildings, but he doesn’t expect to benefit from it.
No renovations or updates are in the works for Martin’s, Stodghill said, because he’s already made them.
“Over the last decade, I’ve been biting off chunks and making updates,” he said, mentioning projects such as modernizing the restrooms and buying the lot north of Martin’s and turning it into more parking.
In June 2025, the Jackson City Council adopted the ordinance designating the blocks around Hal & Mal’s and Martin’s as an entertainment district.
The council adopted the ordinance in anticipation of improvements in the works for Hal & Mal’s. At that time, it was said a boutique hotel was a possibility for some of the space at Hal & Mal’s.
Mary Sanders Ferris Cavicchi, who with her husband Damien, owns Hal & Mal’s, said via text message: “We have loose plans but not anything we are wanting to announce quite yet. We do want to connect the Museum Trail with the venue so that is part of it.”
Virgi Lindsay, represented Ward 1 and served as president of the city council when the ordinance was adopted, said there are many reasons for establishing an entertainment district, but a major one is that business owners and developers in the district will be able to tap into the Mississippi Tourism Rebate Program.
The program allows a portion of the sales tax paid by visitors to the eligible tourism-oriented enterprise to be paid to the applicant as a reimbursement for eligible costs incurred during the project’s construction.
“We all know when you are rehabbing a very old property in the city of Jackson you need all the incentives you can get,” Lindsay said. “I understand that the owners are going to get this on the National Register (of Historic Places) so they can also use historic tax credits for all improvements they plan to make for this property.”
The building that houses Hal & Mal’s dates to around 1923 and was originally a freight depot for the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
Malcolm White and his brother, the late Hal White, opened Hal & Mal’s in 1985 in the warehouse-like space that they leased from the state. A bill introduced in the 2015 Legislative session allowed for the building to be sold at fair market value and Malcolm White owns the building. Malcolm White announced the sale of the iconic restaurant, bar and entertainment venue to the Cavicchis in October 2022.
Developer Jason Watkins said incentives are helpful. He knows from personal experience because he and David Pharr developed the Fondren destination that includes the Capri Theatre, Highball Lanes restaurant, bar and bowling alley and The Pearl tiki bar,
The Fondren project qualified for the Tourism Rebate Program because it is located in an area of Fondren designated as a Historic District, he said.
“Once you get through the red tape of it, it allows you to recoup up to 30 percent of your eligible project costs over time,” Watkins said. “It’s done through the sales tax that is generated.”
A project must be complete, the costs must be certified and the sales tax tracked by the Department of Revenue, he said.
“It’s involved,” Watkins said in 2025. “We didn’t get our first check until last year and we’ve been open since 2022. It’s not free money like a grant.”
The Tourism Rebate Program came under fire several years ago when it included a “cultural retail attractions” category and the developers of the Outlets of Mississippi in Pearl and Renaissance at Colony Park received millions in taxpayer subsidies.
Shopping centers as “cultural retail attractions” are no longer eligible for the sales tax rebate program.
The program applies to tourist attractions with a minimum private investment of at least $10 million.
Examples of attractions that may qualify for the tourism rebate program are theme parks, water parks, entertainment parks, outdoor adventure parks, cultural or historical interpretive educational centers, museums, motor speedways, indoor or outdoor entertainment centers or complexes, convention centers, professional sports facilities, spas, attractions created around a natural phenomenon or scenic landscape and marinas open to the public.
The Westin Hotel in downtown Jackson and the Iron Horse Restaurant and Museum in Jackson are examples of projects that qualified for the Tourism Project Sales Tax Incentive Fund, which redirects sales taxes paid at a tourism project back to the developer to cover a percentage of the construction costs.
