Thursday, November 12, 2015

Group says it's prepared to invest $100 million in Farish Street project.

Leroy Smith issued a press release about his interest in Farish Street:


Statement from Leroy Smith, President, LCSLAND Development LLC Regarding Farish Street
I have been working for over a year to take over the development of the stalled Farish Street Entertainment District. I am committed to the project.

I represent a group of private investors in Colorado who see Jackson as an undeveloped, but emerging and attractive, market for long term real estate investment. We believe that Jackson has enormous potential.

We have carefully studied various projects and proposals in and around Jackson. Our study and selection process has led us to focus on the Farish Street Entertainment District as our first project. The Farish Street project will be a catalyst for a new wave of economic development for the city.
We intend to invest $100 million in Jackson, $25 million in the first 18 months. However, our investor group is requiring us to secure the rights to develop Farish Street and acquire the property before the end of the year, or they will look to other comparable secondary and tertiary markets in which to invest.

We welcome the news that Judge Thomas has ordered a meeting of the JRA to hear our proposal. We believed they will be relieved and excited.

Our proposal is quite simple. We have agreed to pay $1.5 million, plus penalties and interest, to the JRA to repay the HUD CDBG repayment demand, in exchange for title to the property. That is the crux of the proposal. Our group is prepared to close on this transaction in 10 days. Once we have title to the property, our team will immediately resume construction of the entertainment venues and will have 5 venues open for business in one year.

The JRA has indicated a desire to have some control over the property, even after we buy it from them. We will agree to some controls provided that the JRA/City match our private investment, dollar for dollar, up to $25 million.

Our $100 million master plan calls for additional development projects in downtown Jackson, in West Jackson, near Jackson State and in other areas as well. The $500,000 for the Atmos building was added

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

DAYUM!

Anonymous said...

It's great that a developer with a proven track record is coming in and making big promises about developing the Farish St corridor. Nobody has ever tried that before, right? Oh, wait...nevermind.

Anonymous said...

good job debbie downer at 5:06. #pricksrulethisblogspot

Anonymous said...

Sell before they sober up!!!

Anonymous said...

#ShowUSthePROVENTrackRecord

Anonymous said...

You read it here first.

This is the biggest load of bullshi^ you will ever see.......

Anonymous said...

However, our investor group is requiring us to secure the rights to develop Farish Street and acquire the property before the end of the year, or they will look to other comparable secondary and tertiary markets in which to invest.

"Enormous potential", been "working for over a year to take over" but do as we say immediately in the next 49 days or we walk away. Bluff bullshit.

Say no more. Walk away.

Anonymous said...


Leroy, what happened in North Carolina? Come clean.

Anonymous said...

I thought Jackson was broke. Matching them dollar for dollar up to $25 mil should be out of the question. If this is a good deal, it will be a good deal without tax money. Sell the the property for a fair price and let them finance their own development.

Bubba Gump said...

Hurry and make up your mind. Three other people are looking at this car and it will be gone before the end of the week. Bring your cash tomorrow or you'll miss out. We really want to work with you on this, but you have to decide, like, in two days!

Anonymous said...

Just read his LinkedIn profile.

This development will never happen (successfully for Jackson, that is)

Hide and watch

Anonymous said...

Did David Watkins put this deal together? Simple question.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they can take over the "development" at Harbor Walk as well.

Anonymous said...

At lease David has and is trying. No one in their right mind will invest real money in Jackson now. When this first started 20 years ago but not now.

Anonymous said...

for once, Kingfish, I wish you would just require just for 24 hours all bloggers to identify themselves before they post. There are so many Jackson haters out there, it's just a bit sad and tiring. Give it a break guys. What would it take to satisfy you? Never mind, I know the answer to that question.

Anonymous said...

Thank you sir, may I have another? Read the announcement, they want Jackson to put up $1 for every dollar they put up. And they want the property for less than market price. Don't be surprised if others make press releases with similar proposals. Why not?

Anonymous said...

No one in their right mind will invest real money in Jackson now.

So let's soak the taxpayers to pay for the pipe dreams. LOL

Anonymous said...

Anyone read the fine print that Leroy and Davey expect the JRA to get their project approved for the now defunct State Tourism Tax Rebate program? Like that is going to happen.

Anonymous said...

Blame it all on David Watkins or Ben Allen. They are to blame for all of this. Shameful!!

Anonymous said...

6:39 what if he did? He also put together the King Edward and the Standard Life deals. The difference there is that the JRA didn't have control over the development. That's where Watkins screwed up.

Anonymous said...

When I was a young boy growing up in Jackson, I can remember when the Baptist Children's Village occupied the grounds where Jackson Mall was built.
I remember When Frost Top and Gibson's Discount Center were at Hwy. 80 & Ellis Ave.
I remember when McDowell Rd. was a 2 lane road....
And I remember the Farrish St. project was promised to be completed in a timely manner.

Potholes said...

It takes more than 45 days to close on a modest house. This is grandstanding at best.

Cable Car Tours Daily said...

So, if I have this right, any comment or question that calls these snake oil type deals into question is a 'I Hate Jackson' post. And anybody who questions Ben Allen, Watkins, Leroy or Yarber comes from a suburbanite who is afraid to identify him/herself.

And, further, if I'm understand correctly, in order to be taken seriously and embraced by the Fondrenites and skinny-jean crowd, one must comment favorably on pipe-dream deals, collusion, wasting of taxpayer money, ineffective leadership and the boondogle-ry that seems to overshadow just about everything south of County Line Road. OK.....Got It!

Anonymous said...

Man comes to town with checkbook. he offers to take over whole farish st mess and end the litigation (i.e., no more legal fees) and get city out of HUD trouble and end the Watkins claims against the JRA. he offers to do whole damn thing on his own dime. Oh yea, one more thing, he says if JRA wants control, they've got to pay to play, otherwise stay out of his way.

what's wrong with this picture? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. That's why it ain't gonna happen.

Native Jacksonian said...

If the JRA will come up with $1.5 million and the city toss in another $1.5 million I will repave all the city streets and fix the sewage lagoon within the next two years. But I need to close on this deal within 45 days. The money must be wired to my offshore account, which I will promptly transfer to another account. I have lived in Jackson all my life and am simply doing this to repay the city for all it has done for me and my family. I hope no one thinks this is con. I double-dog promise this is on the up and up. I will however be unavailable beginning January 1 so I can seclude myself while I plan this project. Please respond quickly so we can get started.

Anonymous said...

Jackson took David Watkin's money and ran. All the required insider deals make it impossible to do business with Jackson. I've got 2 parcels left in the city limits and when they're sold, I'll never go back.

Anonymous said...

6:01pm. Yep, the city is broke. Anybody have any idea how much money JRA has spent in last decade on legal fees? And bond fees? and,what do we have to show for it? lawsuits from developers, jury awards against the city for bad faith. those folks don't even know how to hire staff without botching it up. Yarber had a chance to clean house and get JRA back on track. I guess he's too busy listening to contributions and trying to make socrates richer. yea, we got big problems here.

the colorado man proposal is the first thing to make sense in a while. let him buy the damn thing, get the jra out of his way, and see what he can do with it. apparently he only wants money if jra wants control. if he fails, well, at least the property will be back on the tax rolls and in the private sector. if jra gets out of the picture, something will eventually happen. hell, they tried everything else, why not give this a try. can't be any worse than what we've got now.

Anonymous said...

Cable Car Tours Daily
If you support your opinion with facts and without resorting to pejoratives, why you think it's a bad deal, then you aren't someone who trashes Jackson for sport.

Otherwise, you are a transparent Jackson hater and are announcing to the world that you are ill mannered, too intellectually challenged to defend your opinions with facts, and mean spirited as well.

Anonymous said...

There is absolutely nothing in this guy's background that suggests that he has $25 million in cash or that he could remotely handle a development like this. The guy hardly exists on Google. This is like that huckster from New York.

BE WARY JRA. This guy does not add up.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see Cathead vodka moving into thus area of jackson from madison county. The new 20,000 foot space will be awesome. It also makes since considering they are city of jackson residents.

Kingfish said...

1. The HUD bill gets paid. If I'm not mistaken, that can mean $500,000 or so a year to the city. Correct me if I'm wrong.

2. Government owned land is placed back into the private sector.

3. The language for the sales tax rebate program is just that- language. It is placed in there just in case the state ever reinstates that program. It is now defunct as the parrot.

Anonymous said...

I've got this bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn and need to sell it today to invest money in different markets.

I have no problem with the state selling them the land outright and letting them put all the private money they want into it. I do have a problem with trying again, and again, and again with public funds into something that's an embarrassment.

The state could put money into the parts of downtown Jackson that do have life--the area around the lower part of state street. (Hal and Mals down to the South.)

What ever happened to the Old Capitol Green? HarborWalk? The outlets in Gluckstadt (NeuMarkt??)

Anonymous said...

Somebody enlighten me as to why the Atmos property is in play. The recent fire makes that building a candidate for demolition...which is going to cost a bunch of money. The land is next door to Vagrant (Poindexter) Park and the old school building which now houses JPS food service. And behind that a bunch of substandard houses.

SHAM ALERT, SHAM ALERT said...

<<**>> DO YOUR RESEARCH JACKSON <<**>>

Ol' Leroy C. Smith only incorporated LCS Land Development, LLC in Colorado ....

Wait for it ....

YESTERDAY, November 12, 2015

Then go to Google Maps and check out the incorporation address:

2665 N Madison Street
Denver, CO 80205M


But hurry, hurry, hurry and sign the deal or else Leroy is going to take his marbles elsewhere!

Seventeen Blues Clubs!!!!! said...

Gee, pie in the sky promises of huge development dollars. Never heard that before. Why wouldn't everyone ignore the warning signs and dance in the streets? I guess because they hate hip hop and black people in Fondren.

So much hatred for Jackson! #pricksrulethisblogspot There's absolutely no way it could be reasonable people who are tired of false promises and scams designed to divert money away from road and sewer improvements. It can only be racism. Just ask Commiekaze, who is blaming racism and hatred of hip hop on Fondrenites' complaints regarding the 3rd Eye music fest.

So, will they be hiring robots to park the cars on Farish Street? If they do, they should take a tip from the highly professional Brad Franklin and name them rapper names, like Kamikaze or Animosity.

Anonymous said...

Who will pay the State , MDA, back the $8 million loaned to the developers over the last few years? I think Watkin had been on the hook for this before JRA made this a legal nightmare.

Anonymous said...

Love the Lawyers fighting in court. There is a little justice left.

Anonymous said...

So the JRA enters into a MoU with a company that didn't exist. Par for the course.

Anonymous said...

Carrying water Kingfish?

Anonymous said...

Now why doesn't David Watkins and Ben Allen want to talk about Leroy's days as COO of Trisomy Success and the debacle with the Park Towne Apartments on Northview Drive? What happened to those redevelopment plans Leroy? Can you give us an update? While you are at it Leroy, how'd that multi-million dollar redevelopment project at Barber-Scotia College work out? Hmmmm.

Anonymous said...

10:28

Why the skepticism? I heard Leroy is working closely with Lyle Lanley. I'm sure THIS project will succeed and all Jackson's problems will be solved.

Seriously, what happened on the projects you mentioned?

Anonymous said...

Did anyone besides me start reading that and envision a nigerian on the other end of an email asking for everyones social security number and bank account information because I was an heir to the king of boomshockalocka, nigeria and I have a
great sum of moneis" due to me?

Anonymous said...

So, Is this another con-man?

Anonymous said...

Hello, Jackson! My company is called WE BE BUILDIN' LLC and we were incorporated in Alaska this morning. My partners and I are prepared to spend TWO BILLION DOLLARS on Farish and pledge to you that we will have seventeen blues clubs up and running in time for next year's WBBLLC Blues Fest and Gay Pride Parade on May 1. We promise! Really we do!

One condition - we must be allowed to buy all the property by Christmas and the city and JRA must match us $3 - $1. That will cost the city $75 million, but it's a pittance compared to the TWO BILLION DOLLARS we will be spending.

Oh, yeah. We're also going to build a bunch of green office buildings, and 4000 mixed income housing units with a robotic parking garage.

And a skyscraper, because Jackson needs one. A big one.

Trust us.

Anonymous said...

2:41. Feel better now? Got that jackassery out of your system? Any other pleasantries you good for before the weekend starts?

Enjoy your weekend, prick.

Anonymous said...

All this explains the recent behind the scenes machinations to suddenly re-jigger the JRA BOD. They got to pull of the plunder of city coffers before the next muni election because Yarber's re-election prospects are not looking good.

Anonymous said...

I am not really concerned about Leroy Smith nor his investors. For starters he failed when he attempting to rebuild a multi-family complex in the Meadowbrook area. This project is still an eyesore. Next, he attempted to redevelopment the Sephrenia Health on North State Street across from the Baptist Medical Center. I think he spent a ton of investor funds on a deal on the Gulf Coast that went under. This guy is snake oil at best. JRA and it idiot Board of Commissioners are a joke as well. There was only one bright spot on the JRA and she was removed.

I'm glad I moved from Jackson. I would definitely suspect that Harvey Johnson and Tony Yarber are running the City of Jackson in the hole. It's time for someone to investigate this lack of fiscal accountability.

Anonymous said...

Big surprise, Leroy and David didn't show up at the meeting today to pitch their new proposal.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/12/16/watkins-no-show-jra-meeting/77425930/



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