New Post: Shreveport Should Treat Its Local Businesses Like G-Unit - https://lnkd.in/gVdw_hxp city of Shreveport is planning to lease the 70,000 sq.ft Millennium Studios facility to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson's G-Unit Film & Television, Inc. for $2,400 per year. As the property has been vacant for a decade, the potential agreement is appealing. However, concerns have been raised over the city giving valuable assets to private businesses based on speculative economic impact instead of supporting local small businesses. The comparison has been drawn to the city removing local businesses for overdue lease payments while offering substantial property to out-of-state companies at significantly low rates.
On November 14, 2023, the city of Shreveport announced that it intended to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with entertainer and businessman, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, on a 30-year lease of a massive publicly owned property located at 300 Douglas Street in downtown Shreveport. According to the Millennium Studios website, the property, currently named Millennium Studios, is a 70,000 sq. ft. video production facility, featuring two sound stages, production offices, a construction mill, a special effects mill, and a world-class visual effects studio. It also features a sizable parking lot, detached acting studio, approximately 0.5 acres of outdoor green space, and tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of movable equipment that is also included in the proposed agreement. As compensation for the exclusive rights to access and use the property, the city has proposed that Curtis Jackson (G-Unit Film & Television, Inc.) pays an annual lease rate of $2,400 per year, or $200 per month.
Considering the fact that Millennium Studios is a special-purpose facility that has remained vacant and largely unused for the better part of the past 10 years, the prospect of entering into such an agreement with a company helmed by a famed celebrity and business magnate is decidedly appealing. With several actively running television shows and an impressive list of projects in pre-production, G-Unit Films & Television, Inc. represents a potential suitor that is primed and poised for immediate and long-term use of the facilities. Although not included in the version of the ordinance and lease agreement documents presented to the Shreveport City Council by the mayor’s office, Mayor Arceneaux has also intimated that Curtis Jackson has expressed interest in the old Expo Hall (formerly StageWorks) facility located at 400 Clyde Fant Parkway. Played correctly, Shreveport could in one fell swoop inject new life and economic activity into two capital assets long underutilized. The matter is up for City Council vote and approval on December 12, 2023.
As attractive as such an opportunity is, Shreveport should do itself a favor by performin
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1moSell for $175M, but back for $375M. I love this country.