Bolis, senior vice president of NAI Sawyer commercial real estate brokerage located in downtown Gulfport, said, "There's no question there has been some activity related" to the aquarium construction.
Bolis said there are still some smaller lots available to build on in downtown, where prices have settled down from the top dollar range paid when the aquarium was in the planning stage.
"Downtown has really come a long way from where it was five or six years ago," Bolis said, "The thrust of it has been restaurants, bars and of course offices, particularly a lot of law offices and banks."
Bolis said the aquarium plus hotels and other attractions likely will spur more investments in Gulfport.