News Roundup

TIF Critical For N.O. East Mall

City Business
January 28, 2008

NEW ORLEANS — City and state officials will meet Wednesday to determine whether a tax increment financing deal can work for Renaissance Town Center, an 80-acre development planned at the site of the demolished Lake Forest Plaza Mall.

The project’s future depends on the TIF bonds, said developer Gowri Kailas, who bought the mall for $8.65 million, spending $10 million more to acquire anchors for redevelopment. It cost $4 million to demolish ruined structures following the storm, the developer said.

The City Council designated the Renaissance site as a TIF district, which means the city can funnel tax revenues generated there to developers building there. The meeting is to determine how much TIF bonding to allocate to the development, said state Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, a member of the TIF district governing board.

A TIF agreement would allow developer Kailas to tap into state bonds to help fund construction, Duplessis said.

“Once the board is able to secure bonds, the development will move the speed of light,” said Duplessis.

The Renaissance Town Center and its storm-ravaged surroundings are one of 17 target zones designated by the city’s Office of Recovery and Development Administration as a rebuilding priority.

The open-air center will include a 140,000-square-foot Lowe’s Home Center, another 200,000-square-foot anchor, two other 100,000-square-foot anchors and 650,000 square feet of other assorted retail and a movie theater. Tree-lined sidewalks will connect the shops. The New Orleans-based developer is still finalizing the development’s total costs, but the TIF bonds will provide some percentage of that cost, he said. Last summer, Kailas estimated a total cost of $200 million.

Later phases of construction will bring 150,000 square feet of upscale housing, a hotel and offices to the pedestrian-friendly center, which was master-planned by Miami architect Andres Duany.

The TIF governing board also includes Mayor C. Ray Nagin, New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis, Council President Arnie Fielkow and a member of Louisiana Economic Development.