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Louisiana Boardwalk

Bossier City is one of the fastest growing cities in Louisiana, which is demonstrated by one of their most recent projects, the Louisiana Boardwalk. Bossier City’s Louisiana Boardwalk is a unique partnership between a private developer and a public governmental body. The project that was assembled uniting the two entities was developed and crafted from careful planning and closely working together to become Northwest Louisiana’s premier destination.

This project was developed between the City and a private developer who saw the potential of retail development along the Red River riverfront. In 1995, the City commissioned a plan called the “Downtown Redevelopment Plan”. This plan was done just as the Shreveport-Bossier City area began to experience the area’s first riverboat casinos in the market. The City recognized that land located near the gateways to the City, which had visibility from the Shreveport downtown area and was located near the newly developed casinos, had potential as a future entertainment district. The City was aware that there were an insufficient number of support facilities, such as restaurants, stores and other entertainment recreational facilities that could support the newly developed tourist destinations of the casinos and the new growth of the City.

The goals of the project were to redevelop a blighted area located along the riverfront in Bossier City, located to the north of Horseshoe Casino. The project would involve the redevelopment of 50 acres. The projects goals were also to create a destination for the millions of tourists visiting the area, but to also create a family oriented destination for the community. The City sought to have an environment that would be financial successful, but would also give the patron a safe and secure feeling when visiting the project. In 2001, the City and developer agreed to this philosophy and entered into a Master Development agreement, which would allow the developer to purchase the needed property at market rate and sell it to the City for the same amount. In turn, the City would “hold” the property for the developer and then sell it back to the developer, as the project was scheduled for construction. The first parcel was sold back to the developer in 2002 for the construction of the State’s only Bass Pro Outdoor World store, which opened in November 2003. Concurrently, the developer was building the retail area of the project and continued to purchase the land required for the retail development. The remaining land not purchased for development was utilized by the City’s portion of the development for infrastructure to support the project. The City, as a partner in the project was responsible for the construction of a 2500 car parking garage and other surface parking lots throughout the project. The City also was responsible for the installation of all underground utilities in the project.

The City’s total investment in the project for is $43.5 million dollars. The developer’s investment in the project was $150 million dollars. Total costs $190 million dollars. The Louisiana Boardwalk was officially opened May 2005.

The project recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in May 2006. The project has been very well received by the community and now become the destination, which was the ultimate goal of both the City and the developer. The project consists of 65 stores, 17 eateries, a 14- screen theater, a carousel, water features, landscaped riverfront overlooks and an open-air trolley.

This economic development project has given Bossier City, the destination that was originally desired in its efforts to redevelop the riverfront and also is providing a new source income through the generation of sales and property tax revenue to the City, Parish and State. Since the opening of Bass Pro Outdoor World in 2003 and the opening of the entire property in 2005, it has generated over $12.8 million dollars in sales taxes to the City, Parish and State.

Links

Benton Road Overpass

Bossier Tennis Center

Louisiana Boardwalk