Jackson Jambalaya

Looks like more corporate welfare is coming to Mississippi in the form of some "destination shopping".  The Desoto Times reported a few weeks ago:

SOUTHAVEN - If Mayor Darren Musselwhite wants to do his Christmas shopping at the Outlet Shops of the Mid-South in 2015, he told the Board of Aldermen Tuesday night the city has done all it can now to help make that happen and that it is now up to the developer to build it.

Musselwhite reported at the meeting that the Southaven mall proposal had been approved by the Mississippi Development Authority for Qualified Resort Area status.

That announcement comes on the heels of the Mississippi Development Authority approving the mall developers' application for sales tax incentives.

"We've done everything the city has to do to get the application move forward," Musselwhite. said. "It's up to the MDA and the developer at this point. This was the last hoop we had to do to help them get that approved."

Jeff Rent, a spokesman with the MDA office in Jackson, said the developers, DeSoto Mid-South Tourism Project LLC, has had its application for sales tax incentives approved.

The incentives were approved by the MDA on Dec. 30, according to Rent, at an estimated investment amount of $113.3 million. That means the mall project would be eligible for a rebate amount of up to $33.99 million.

The program is designed to jumpstart the initial phase of the project, which would be the 324,000 square-foot mall, restaurants and outparcels for a hotel in the area, located at Church Road and I-55.

Southaven would divert up to the estimated rebate amount collected over a 15-year period to fund Phase I of the mall project.

The total cost of the mall project has been estimated to be at least in the $165 million dollar range, but it may be more. Phase II of the plan has a $50 million pricetag for restaurants and another hotel, but Phase III plans remain unknown.

DeSoto County Economic Development Council President Jim Flanagan welcomed the news. "It will be a windfall for everyone and a tremendous draw for Northwest Mississippi and the region," Flanagan said. "It continues to solidify the regional retail center that DeSoto County has become." Rest of article

DeSoto Mid-South Tourism Project LLC represented by Jackson attorney William Mendenhall. The incorporation papers filed at the Secretary of State's office do not mention who the members of the LLC are.