Busy Bee developer recognized with award
Busy Bee developer Doug Hudson was recently awarded the Mississippi Main Street Hero award celebrated here Sunday evening with the lighting of the Busy Bee Suites sign at his new loft apartments downtown.
The award recognizes an outstanding community leader or public figure who has displayed an involved commitment to downtown and his or her Main Street program.
Hudson of Florida is a real estate entrepreneur and close friend of Marty Stuart. Hudson in 2018 purchased the building that in the back of the building fronting Beacon Street housed the fabled Busy Bee Cafe that was a huge influence on Stuart’s music.
“There was beauty not only in the building, but also in the future of the town of Philadelphia,” Stuart said. “These Busy Bee Suites set the standard for more to come in our city.”
The Community Development Partnership and the Marty Stuart Congress of Country Music hosted the event.
At the ceremony Sunday lighting the sign, Stuart told WTOK, “It is where I heard ‘Higheels Sneakers’ and that was at the Busy Bee Café. It made me want to dance and it made every day a good one. I carried it in my heart ever since.”
Hudson is an avid country music fan and has lived next door to Loretta Lynn and believes in the $30-million Marty Stuart Congress of Country Music under development in the old Ellis Theater.
Hudson is on Stuart’s board and owns several pieces of the Marty Stuart collection. All of this prompted him to purchase the building in downtown.
He has retail on the bottom floor and completely transformed the second floor into the first downtown apartments in Philadelphia.
Hudson has a private apartment and three others that are rented.
Main Street said in giving the award, “Doug ‘shopped local’ and worked closely with Main Street to ensure that he was ‘keeping his building original.’
“He spends a lot of time in Philadelphia and because of his great investment in the community, he is Philadelphia’s Main Street Hero.”
Stuart remembered the current Busy Bee Suites as the Busy Bee Café, where he first heard rhythm and blues. He described the café as “unique and stylish” and a place that inspired his original goal in life.
“The Busy Bee Café was the first place I heard rhythm and blues, saw people dancing to live music, and witnessed musicians dressed in their snappy outfits with personal style,” Stuart said.
“My original life goal was inspired by what I witnessed at the Busy Bee. I wanted to have a gold tooth like the guitar player in the Busy Bee band. I still haven’t achieved that one, but the Busy Bee is truly a part of who I am.”
Tim Moore, director of the Philadelphia-Neshoba County Chamber of Commerce, said the lighting was a great idea and it’s made an even bigger impact on Philadelphia.
“Since the Busy Bee Suites opened, all three of Doug’s apartments have already been rented out,” Moore said. “They’re the first downtown apartments Philadelphia has ever had.”
Moore noted that these suites set a precedent for other people to begin investing and looking into starting their own apartment complexes into the future.
“It’ll start a trend. And it began right here with Marty Stuart pulling that switch,” he said.
“Turning on the lights there is such a big deal for him because the Busy Bee Cafe is the place that started him on his path to where he is today.”
A reception followed Stuart turning on the neon sign in the lobby of the Busy Bee Suites.
For more information on the suites, contact Tim Moore at 601-656-1000.