Business Directory Showcase Theme

Aloha!

I’m looking for a theme or theme/plugin combo that can do the following:

* Showcase images directory-style that link to individual info pages (similar to mixcss.com)
* Allow advertisers to instantly submit and pay for ad space
* Allow visitors to search for businesses based on subcategory search criteria

Basically, the website is a business directory but with more aesthetic forethought than average link directory sites. There is a homepage with “featured” ads displayed in gallery format. A user can click on ad image and be taken to a full page description of the company. Conversely, advertisers can click on empty ad space and automatically and instantly upload their image, info and pay for their ad(s). Other web pages will list ads in “block format” with an image and short bio and contact info.

Additionally, visitors can search for businesses based on a specified search criteria (i.e. service/product provided, location). So when inputting the data for each business, there will need to preset categories (or tags?).

Capabilities would be similar to, if not better than, Joomla’s SOBI 2. After having used Joomla when it first started, I’m a big WP fan and would like to avoid returning to Joomla if I can get the job done with WP. Out-of-the-box solutions would be great but I realize I’ll probably have to get creative. Any ideas? Maybe a WP theme integrated with phpMyDirectory? Ideas, advice, and suggestions for execution are really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!