The saga of the former Hollywood Cinemas site at The Esplanade Mall continues.
In 2015, the vacant, crumbling theatre site was sold to a Baton Rouge Property Developer that wanted to put a multi-story apartment complex on the site. A total of 265 high-end apartments were to be constructed.
Residents of Cannes Brulees (the subdivision adjacent to The Esplanade) howled in protest. The apartments would lessen their property value some said, Others claimed that the apartment residents would be able to see into homeowner's yards and houses.
After several public meetings, the property developer promised to put up trees, shrubbery and other items to lessen the opportunity for apartment dwellers to peep into homes and yards.
Despite the vociferous objections of the neighborhood, the Kenner City Council approved the project by a 5-2 vote. The Council did add 15 amendments to the zoning ordinance approving the change to make the project more palatable to neighbors.
Fast forward to earlier this year and the Hollywood Cinema site was still vacant and even more unkept and unsafe.
Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn requested the Council fast track demolition of the property to reduce the blight in Kenner.
The property developer said they just needed a little more time and their financing might fall through if the building were demolished. They promised to bring the property back to code compliance and keep the property in good repair.
After relatively little activity at the site, and the property developer not following through on their pledge to maintain the property prior to demolition, new District 4 Councilman George Branigan said that he would use District 4 improvement money to cover the cost of the property demolition as the expected cost would exceed the City's entire demolition budget.
While a noble gesture by Branigan, this would have been a terrible idea for District 4 residents who would be far better served by Branigan using the funds on infrastructure (sewerage, drainage, streets, etc.) then blowing a chunk of money on a demolition and then securing a lien against the property that would only be paid if the property were sold - which could have taken years, if ever. In the meantime, the needs of District 4 would have gone unmet.
The good news is that Kenner and District 4 residents won't need to worry about that option.
Now, here's what I think is the bad news.
Wednesday night at 6pm at the Muss Bertolino Gym, there will be a public meeting regarding the property developer's attempt to sell the site and get it rezoned so a church could go in it's place.
That's right - a church.
Now, I was not a fan of the apartment complex idea, but it was better than what was there - a vacant, crumbling movie theatre, and, at least, while the apartment complex wouldn't have generated sales tax revenue for the city, it would have brought in significantly more property tax revenue as the value of the developed site was substantially higher than a vacant, crumbling movie theatre.
But now, if the proposed church is built, the City won't even be receiving property taxes on the property.
No sales tax revenue. No property tax revenue. Nothing.
Mayor Zahn though calls it a WIN for the City.
"The Church and its members have an organization that will be an asset to Kenner businesses. Their congregation will use Kenner restaurants, shopping centers and gas stations when visiting Kenner," Zahn said. Independent Churches throughout this country have grown over the past years into huge groups of followers and that will only help Kenner as any company does that enters our market."
"I think it's a win for everyone."
Mayor Zahn may be correct but, you can't quantify or even attempt to project the economic impact of a church and its members.
You can HOPE that they will buy gas, eat at Kenner restaurants, perhaps even shop at what's left of Kenner's deteriorating retail base - but you can't KNOW.
You can, however, quantify and project Sales Tax Revenue and Property Tax Revenue, neither of which the City will receive if this site becomes a church.
Look, I'm not against churches. I've been a Roman Catholic my entire life. But, we already have churches in strip centers on Williams Blvd. tying up valuable Commercial Real Estate - real estate that could be generating Sales Tax Revenue for the City.
And, the City has other, valuable Commercial Real Estate that is being used by a non-profit group.
On Williams Blvd., the City sold valuable Commercial Real Estate to the non-profit group, Habitat for Humanity - again, a great group but, they pay ZERO in Property Taxes, they collect and remit ZERO in Sales Taxes (because they resell donated goods), and they even pay ZERO in Sales Taxes on the materials used in constructing their building.
And, if that weren't enough, they paid less for the property than other potential buyers.
Again, no disrespect to Habitat for Humanity, which has a noble mission, but, other than a few low-paying retail positions, what are they bringing to the City of Kenner that we need to have their retail store on Williams Blvd.? Wouldn't the City have been better served to locate this store on a less desirable piece of City property? If you're going to buy supplies from Habitat for Humanity, you will seek them out regardless of where they are located because you want to support the group.
Habitat for Humanity's Restore building didn't need to go on Williams Blvd.
And lost in the conversation is the question of what will be the perception of potential tenants and the new owners of The Esplanade if a church pops up next to them? How will they feel with a church on that site using a chunk of The Esplanade's parking lot? Is having a church there the economic message that the City wants to send to potential business owners considering The Esplanade? Does a church show that the city's retail environment is thriving?
You should know what I think by now.
The property around The Esplanade is too valuable to not be developed into something that generates significant revenue for the City, whether it's property tax revenue that the apartment complex would have generated (and sales taxes too if the City imposed a tax on rental property) or sales tax revenue if the site were a restaurant or retail.
Since we can't quantify or even project the potential revenue from the church, its impact on the other retail businesses in the area and its impact on The Esplanade itself, I think Kenner residents should be concerned by this.
At a time when Lakeside Shopping Center is bustling with new stores like the first LEGO store in Louisiana and undergoing a $10 Million renovation and the owners of Clearview Shopping Center purchased the Sears building (which will downsize to a space inside the mall), is proposing building two additional retail/multi-use buildings and undergoing an interior and exterior sprucing up, why is The Esplanade floundering so badly that Kenner officials are happy to have a church occupying what should be prime real estate?
Yes, putting a church on that site is better than what's there now just like putting an auto dealership in what should have been Phases 3 & 4 of the Kenner Market Center is better than a vacant lot.
But, why are we settling for "better than nothing"?
Why is the City of Kenner settling at all?
The first Public Meeting about the proposed Zoning change to allow a church on the site will be held Wednesday at 6pm at Muss Bertolino Gym. If you care about the future of Kenner and The Esplanade, you need to make time to attend.
