Ironically, both the City of New Orleans and the City Of Kenner are each contemplating moving their City Halls. In both cases, they are bad ideas.
On my radio program Monday on WGSO 990 AM, Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn discussed at least three possibilities for moving Kenner City Hall from it's Central Kenner location on Williams Blvd. to the West Esplanade-Chateau corridor: the Esplanade Mall, the nearly-vacant Pavilion Shopping Center, and the land directly across Chateau Blvd. from the Pavilion that formerly housed the OMV and retail businesses and restaurants pre-Katrina.
Currently, the bulk of Kenner business is at the three building City Hall Complex but the City of Kenner does house employees at about 10 other locations across Kenner.
On the face of it, consolidating City offices appears to be a good idea. Having one location to conduct ALL city business is convenient. Paying lower insurance premiums would also be a plus as would the economic impact of several hundred city employees on the restaurants near the proposed West Esplanade sites.
But, when you dig deeper, the financial ramifications of a move far outweigh the "convenience" of a consolidated Kenner City Government.
If you put City Hall at the Esplanade or Pavilion, admittedly some businesses will benefit. But, taking a huge section of retail space out of commerce and turning it into non-sales tax generating space, won't help Kenner's declining retail base.
As the Mayor often mentions, more folks are spending their money online, whether it's due to convenience or lower prices. But, online shopping, while growing at a huge rate, represents less than 10% of total sales.
Are malls in decline? Of course. But good property owners have been successful in re-purposing even old, tired malls like the Esplanade.
Perhaps the Mayor is correct and the Esplanade is beyond repair. I don't buy that and one only needs to look at Elmwood, Lakeside Shopping Center or any of the multiple shopping centers that are booming in Baton Rouge and other areas to see that the entire world isn't shopping online.
Nor is the bulk of Kenner.
In addition to taking a huge amount of retail out of commerce, the City would also turn from an "owner" into a "renter". The huge cost of paying rent at either the Esplanade or the Pavilion would completely offset any insurance savings due to consolidation. And, what would happen to the current buildings that houses Kenner operations? Do we really need even more commercial blight?
No, the answer to turning around Kenner's retail base, improving our sales tax and property tax bases isn't moving City Hall to what should be retail or mixed use space.
The answer to fixing the Esplanade, the Pavilion and Kenner, is complicated though and politicians like simple fixes.
At this time, with Kenner Mayor Zahn firmly in place for the next four years, he should be bold and double-down on economic development. Just as the Esplanade is on it's 3rd owner in two years, the Pavilion needs new ownership and the land across from the Pavilion on Chateau needs to be developed - NOW.
The City of Kenner has 4 primary economic development growth areas and each has its own set of challenges: Laketown, Rivertown, the West Esplanade Corridor (The Esplanade, The Pavilion and Chateau) and Williams Blvd.
Each needs help in order to reach their potential but, ALL can grow and prosper independently.
Laketown and Rivertown should be Entertainment/Retail hubs. Both can be home to specialty retail and focus on different audiences. Laketown, with the Treasure Chest Casino and the Pontchartrain Center along with a potential partnership with Atlantis Gaming (or another investor), can be geared towards tourists and draw folks from Metairie, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes while Rivertown can be marketed to Harahan/River Ridge residents and St. Charles (Hahnville, Destrehan, Luling, St. Rose, Norco).
Laketown is on its way and well past the pie-in-the-sky, or rather, Ferris Wheel-in-the-Sky, that former Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni had drawn up years ago. I always questioned the inclusion of a Ferris Wheel at Laketown. Now, we know why Yenni wanted one.
Rivertown too is improving but, as Kenner District 1 Councilman Gregory Carroll said, "It's taking baby steps." New restaurants and retail are opening in Rivertown but the area needs much more and a much larger commitment from Mayor Zahn and Kenner officials to jumpstart it's progress.
Rivertown can't afford more years of "baby steps" after a decade of dismantling and neglect by Yenni and his predecessor Ed Muniz.
The Esplanade, with it's new owner, should be re-positioned as Retail/Residential, with the addition of apartments and/or condos, even offices, and a reduction (but not elimination) of retail space. The Esplanade could be the "family-friendly" shopping/entertainment venue that Kenner (and all of East Jefferson) craves. Adding 200-400 upscale residential units, and the 800-1000+ residents, would far outweigh the potential economic impact of 400 City of Kenner employees. Adding more "family-friendly" activities and a safer shopping environment would pull Kenner, Metairie and other residents away from Lakeside, Elmwood and other areas and give them a reason to spend their money in Kenner.
There is no other property like the Esplanade in Kenner and no available land to build a retail or mixed use property at the scale that could be done at the Esplanade. But, it would take a major investment and major effort from City Government and taxpayers to get there.
The Pavilion could be a mecca for upscale retailers, whether it's antique shops or specialty retailers, or a "Town Center" development. It could also be a mixed-use property with apartments and/or condos, offices, even Senior living. Imagine Seniors living in a truly self-contained area with a grocery, drug store, retail, a health clinic or urgent care, restaurants, a hair and nail salon, and more. What affluent senior wouldn't want to live on the upper floors of that retail/service environment and overlook Chateau Country Club or even Lake Pontchartrain from their balconies?
This type of "Town Center" approach would also benefit residents in Chateau, Cannes Brulee and other adjacent subdivisions.
Yes, I realize that the Esplanade and Pavilion are both owned by private companies and the City can only exert so much influence on them. But, if Mayor Zahn were aggressive and laid out a plan where the City would help the property owners succeed, it could be a massive win for all involved.
But, it would take a truly aggressive Mayor with vision looking beyond the next election cycle and the next budget.
Kenner and Mayor Zahn need to take the lead, not be led around by out-of-state investors. If the Esplanade, the Pavilion, Laketown, Rivertown and other areas are competing with each other for the same businesses and opportunities, Kenner will continue to stagnate.
Williams Blvd. also needs attention from Kenner Government. There are too many dilapidated shopping centers with outdated signs and questionable businesses. Too much of Kenner prime commercial space on Williams is allowed by current zoning laws to be occupied by non-retail businesses like Banks and Offices. The City needs to re-purpose Williams Blvd. as exclusively Retail.
A TIF for Williams Blvd. could be used to provide low or no-interest financing to businesses and property owners to replace the hodge-podge of signs, facades, and landscaping on Williams and dramatically improve the aesthetics of the only road that runs from Rivertown to Laketown all without a tax increase or incurring new government debt. Kenner has enough debt already due to the misguided ideas of former Mayor Mike Yenni.
Instead of adding public art and bike paths, Yenni's failed 2030 Plan should have been to focus on what should be Kenner's strengths. But, there's no campaign contributions or contracts involved in getting businesses to phase out their tired signs and invest in their property.
Sadly, Yenni frittered away Millions on projects with ZERO economic development value to the City. Yenni's 2030 Plan created NO new jobs, NO new businesses, NO influx of families (young or otherwise) and hamstrung Kenner's finances for Mayors, and generations, to come.
All four areas (Laketown, Rivertown, the West Esplanade/Chateau corridor, Williams Blvd.) should each have their own TIFs and financial incentives to encourage economic development, re-purposing, updated signage, marketing and more.
Sure, having TIFs and diverting some sales tax revenue from City coffers would hurt the City budget in the short term, but, in the long term it would be a massive boom to the City in terms of new businesses, jobs, property values, as well as increased property and sales tax revenue.
Admittedly, TIFs aren't a panacea and there has been widespread abuse of TIFs. But, by adopting best practices and governance, TIFs can and do provide significant benefits to a city.
If the City added a small sales tax to apartment rentals, even if it were only for the short-term, the City could generate more than enough revenue to offset any loss of sales tax revenue from the TIFs.
Along with the TIFs and financial incentives, the City and the Mayor need to get aggressive in recruiting national, regional and local businesses to Kenner. Having a part-time Economic Development Director isn't enough. The Mayor himself needs to spend much more time beating the bushes and recruiting business to Kenner. Kenner's other elected officials, including State Legislators and our JP District and At-Large Council members also need to get more heavily invested time wise in helping improve Kenner's economy. Clearly, what the Esplanade and the Pavilion are doing as far as marketing their properties and Kenner isn't working. The Mayor. and others, need to jump in with both feet.
Putting a church on prime commercial property next to the Esplanade and considering moving City Hall to the Esplanade or Pavilion, send the wrong message to potential businesses and won't help Kenner thrive, grow or even compete in the future.
If the City added 400-500 new housing units (either apartments or condos) at the Esplanade site, another 300 affluent Senior living housing units at the Pavilion and high-end condos at Laketown, that could add 2,000-3,000+ new Kenner residents. If you coupled that with offices at any or all of these locations, what kind of economic development and increased taxes would that be for the City of Kenner?
Now, is the time for Mayor Zahn to think long-term about Kenner and Kenner's future and his decisions shouldn't be based upon "convenience".
New Orleans would also make a huge financial mistake if it were to move their City Hall.
Unlike Kenner however, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is considering moving City Hall to the old Municipal Auditorium, a vacant building owned by the city, or the closed Charity Hospital.
In New Orleans though, the costs of moving city hall are far greater than moving Kenner's.
At a time when New Orleans budget is already strained and the Mayor is warning of more budget surprises on top of the current $39 Million shortfall, New Orleans simply can't afford to move.
Yes, it would be great to redevelop Charity Hospital and rebuild the Municipal Auditorium, and perhaps one day the city can, but that time isn't now.
The City of New Orleans has far too many infrastructure needs to incur the additional costs of not only renovating either the Municipal Auditorium or the old Charity Hospital AND the costs of moving offices, furniture and equipment to either location at this time.
Now is the time for both New Orleans Mayor Cantrell and Kenner Mayor Zahn to be bold and aggressive, especially when it comes to attracting new businesses to both cities. Moving City Hall, is not a bold move for either.
For different financial reasons, now is not the time for either the City of Kenner or the City of New Orleans to consider moving their City Halls.
