Update: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s Possible Plans for Shreveport

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux spent Friday morning with KEEL News to recap his first 100 days in office.  In addition to the challenges he's faced, like officer involved shootings and mass shootings, Arceneaux highlighted several exciting projects that his administration is working on.

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One of the subjects he talked about was the recent visit from music and entertainment mogul Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.  Jackson was in Shreveport in February touring the city and facilities like Independence Stadium, the former Expo Hall, most recently StageWorks, which is now been retro-fitted into an indoor sports complex, and Millennium Studios.

When asked if Jackson is planning on buying Millennium Studios, Arceneaux told KEEL News:

"He sent us what he called a letter of interest which had some very broad terms to it. So I went through a prior transaction we did with StageWorks back in 2006 to just kind of use that as a checklist of what do we need to cover and what are the things we need to discuss."  Arceneaux continued, "His letter of interest included both the Expo Hall facility and Millenium Studios.  And it is a lease proposal. Cities, generally speaking,  cannot simply transfer properties to a private person.  We can do a long-term lease, but we cannot just transfer property without declaring it surplus and taking bids."

 

When asked about Jackson's plans for the properties, Arceneaux said:

My understanding is that he has a contract commitment from, I believe it's Fox, to do multiple dozens of television shows.  That's primarily what he wants to do... he needs a ready, reliable place where he can produce those TV shows, and we have a ready, reliable place where he can do that, so he's interested in Millennium.  We're not quite so sure what he wants to do with Expo Hall.  You know, we've just redone that for athletics and that kind of thing so, that is a question that we had.

 

Arceneaux told KEEL News that talks are continuing with Jackson and that things seem to be going very smoothly from both sides.