By JUSTIN O'CONNOR | Staff writer
The Shreveport -Bossier City Advocate
A cyclist pedals along the Arthur Teague Multi-use Trail on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Bossier City, La.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
The Bossier City Council moved forward on Tuesday with $1.2 million in spending on a "long-term South Bossier redevelopment" project.
The details were sparse, and officials have been advised by the city's legal department to avoid public comment on the item. That is because it is tied to one of the most consequential lawsuits Bossier City has faced since the turn of the century.
It was launched in 2008 by the U.L. Coleman Companies, a full-service commercial real estate enterprise with development interests in South Bossier.
Settled in 2011, the lawsuit sought injunctive relief and damages after U.L. Coleman was denied curb cut access to Arthur Ray Teague Parkway by the Bossier City Council for a mixed-use development near Brookshire Grocery Arena that the company pursued after being given assurances by city officials.
The terms of the settlement meant Bossier City had to approve U.L. Coleman's Walker Place Development with the curb cut, sell the company 39 acres of land to the development's south and pay the company $6.7 million in damages and costs in addition to reimbursements for infrastructure upgrades to the tune of $10.4 million.
Bossier City also was made to execute a South Bossier Redevelopment Plan and construct Walker Place Park along with the raised pedestrian bridge that connects it to the Arthur Ray Teague Running Trail.
The lawsuit resulted in a consent decree, meaning Federal Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. has been overseeing implementation of the settlement terms for the past 14 years.
City Attorney Charles Jacobs at a Bossier City Council meeting Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, at Bossier City Municipal Complex in Bossier City, La.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City, La., Friday, July 19, 2024.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
Construction on the 92-acre Walker Place Development itself has yet to start amid the public work, but the project's website shows it is ambitious, with animated renderings marketing it as "a regional draw for the Ark-La-Tex."
There are plans for multifamily residential to the north and south split in the middle by office, retail and grocery space, along with a movie theater. If completed, it would entail development of the bulk of the land around Brookshire Grocery Arena.
The City Council's $1.2 million appropriation will still have to pass another vote, which is scheduled for its May 26 meeting.