Despite much media hoopla recent news of expanded private development in downtown Shreveport has again proven to be false hope with one notable exception.
The much hyped online auction of the old Arkla building on Milam was a dud. No bids that matched/exceeded the reserve. There is plenty of downtown office space for rent if that was the intention of a prospective buyer. And the economics of development into rental housing units are not favorable. Whether or not that building has asbestosis is an unknown.
The Petroleum Tower renovation into apartments has stalled. Financing is the reported problem. Nationwide lenders have taken a very conservative posture on big building financing as nationwide defaults have increased, and mortgage rates are still high. This project also has challenges because there is not adjacent parking. The purchases of the owners of two parking areas a block away on Edwards will not satisfy many prospective tenants.
And then there was the hyped purchase of another downtown parking lot by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. All this did was put money into the pockets of the seller and realtors. This lot is a hike from his Texas Street purchases. To date Jackson has just warehoused all his purchases, which does nothing for the local economy. The same is true with his leases of Expo Hall and Millennium Studios.
A bright spot--and a very bright one indeed--is the lease of the old Capri Theatre by local businessman Tim Huck. This facility has been substantially freshened up with and will soon open as an event center. This project adds to Huck's portfolio of investments in the downtown area that have restored vacant buildings putting them back into commerce. Huck sets a high bar for other owners of vacant downtown buildings--be they large are relatively small.