It’s like a broken record at Shreveport City Council meetings.
On Tuesday, Feb.11, Shreveport city attorney Marcus Edwards asked for another delay in an ordinance authorizing the lease of portions of Stageworks of Louisiana To G-Unit Film & Television Louisiana, LLC. (To most Shreveporters this building is known as Expo Hall, which is on the southwest corner of Fannin Street and Clyde Fant Parkway.)
This time the ordinance was delayed until the March 25 meeting of the Shreveport City Council. A betting man would place high odds that another delay will be requested on that date. The ordinance to introduce Stage Works was first introduced in April 2024.
Shreveport spent $4.5 million in 2023 to convert this building into an indoor sports arena. The work was completed in the fourth quarter of that year. The only use of the facility for a sports event was a 3-on-3 basketball game sponsored by Jackson as a part of his Humor & Harmony Festival last summer. The only other use of the building was a few offices for Shreveport Police. Of course, the City has continues to pay utilities, insurance premiums, and maintenance on the building.
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson expressed interest in leasing a portion of Expo Hall to expand his promised film production enterprise to be headquartered at Millennium Studios. Jackson, like other film producers, was concerned about legislative action to eliminate or reduce the state's film tax credits.
The Louisiana Legislature completed its regular session in early June of last year. The revisions of the film tax credit were then put into place. So, Jackson has had over seven months to digest the changes and the impact on his film production plans.
During this same interval, i.e. June 2024, Jackson has taken no action to produce films at G-Unit Production Studios other than to evict a small independent film producer from the premises. Reportedly the hang up is Jackson's desire to also rent an adjacent building. Like with Expo Hall, the details of this proposed transaction are still under negotiation.
Jackson's inaction on the entertainment front is matched by his inaction on the slew of downtown buildings that he has purchased. To proponents of downtown development along with building owners and downtown businesses in Shreveport’s downtown, this is the same old song--vacant buildings not in commerce but with a new owner.
The good news is that Jackson's lease of Millennium Studios saves the city approximately $250,000 per year since Jackson pays the insurance premium, utilities and maintenance. This savings is important for the city just as the promise of economic development. At least the rent payments are guaranteed. Other than that, it’s been all show no go other than Jackson's downtown festival that most likely failed to pay the costs incurred by the city of Shreveport and the losses incurred by downtown businesses during the days before and after the event as well as the event itself.
Negotiations on Stage Works is soon approaching one year. The Millennium lease has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2024. One can only wonder what the real hold ups and what priority Shreveport film production are is on Jackson's bucket list.