Jackson Jambalaya

Nothing but rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as it sits on the bottom of the Atlantic. Awful hard to raise a ship that been sunk for years.

This woman must know some manner of sorcery that the new owners of Northpark do not. They have been unsuccessful at restoring that "old vibe" which of course means people with money to spend instead of loitering shoplifters.

A lot of people want to be developers until they become one.

I wish her luck but I bet the owner was thrilled to get 10 million for that.

I hope she has access to really, REALLY deep pockets that expect NO return on any investment! Somehow, she doesn't really give me the impression she knows what she's just bought.

Anyone know where she's from? You almost have to assume she made a mistake and didn't know what she was purchasing.

this has to be a joke. payless is out of business and she talked to them?

gotta admit- it’s entertaining to watch her walk around the space and talk about it.

if it’s not a joke i hope she pulls it off. jackson needs people willing to put in effort to improve from within

Metrocenter’s glory days were short - less than 10 years from the time of its opening in the late 1970s to the opening of Northpark in the mid 1980s.

That project is going to require a lot more competence than someone who shoots vertical videos.

It does seem like a very tall order but I applaud her efforts and wish her the best of luck. West Jackson does need more safe, affordable daycares and a beauty/barber school sounds like a good idea.

I hope it works, but I have seen lots of people just like her that had "great" ideas but were clueless when it came to developing and executing a plan. I smell lots of guv'ment dollars.

I think she will make it work. I like how she thinks. It’s exciting. I hope the best for her and MetroCenter.

I would like to know how bad tax payers were scammed by some sort of tax credits or zero interest minority loans to pull this off. I wish her luck as wish Sears would come back, but no investor in their right mind would put up money for this without making $ off incentives.

Who has the money behind this purchase?

Holy crap! Between this video and her social media, she is a hot mess! Best of luck indeed. However, me thinks somehow the Archie-Graham cabal play into this somehow.

Although you have to give her and her friends an A for dreaming big... Dave and Busters, Sears, arcades and skating rinks... Oh my!

Now that everyone will have to pay for their water I wonder where the disposable income will come from to support the Emily Seiferth-Sanders Mall?

As I have said in years past, the metro center needs to be purchased by JPS and relocate all of the Students to one building and save all taxpayers money. Put one big football field in one section and take turns on Friday playing . How hard can this be? Combine the cost into one. At one point someone needs to think outside the box and try something different because what’s going on is not working.

Hey 6:00, there were PLENTY of hot south jackson girls at metro in the mid to late 80s. And the stores were pretty decent til the early 2000’s. I do miss buying tools at Sears.

Geez...people are so delusional. I wish her the very best as the face of this endeavor, but she did not buy this space. I'm betting this sale was nowhere near 10 mil. Will be interesting to see who is truly funding this. This will be government funded sinkhole in the end.

I wish her good luck, but I give it 12-18 months before she's off, looking for another world-changing cause.

She's either A) lying about all the vendors who want to rent space, or B) she's delusional.

Something is VERY VERY Fishy about this. This is not what it seems. I'm so sick of throwing tax money down the toilet. This was not a private purchase. This has government money written all over it. Please oh lord please help the leaders of this city stop with the stupidity.

@7:22
Yup. Even The Great American Sean Hannity got rich on Section 8 Federal Housing bucks. The smartest of us know to privatize the profits and publicly subsidize the losses.

She is very savvy because the opportunities are drying up and this woman is about to turn her $10 million dollar investment into serious wealth funded by the taxpayers.

Studio apartments in the mall? I feel like this is a prank

Agree with 7:22. This is one big socialist experiment

Convert it to a jail. That would cut down dramatically on transportation costs since 99% of Hinds jail population is thugs from Jackson.

Say what... Claiborne Frazier is a co-signer and will develop the apartments? Say it ain’t so...

Maybe I missed it in the comments but she was convicted of fraud in 2013.

Unless some big retail national companies commit, this woman is living in fantasyland. Period.

Why not tear it down and build a Six Flags amusement park type establishment? That would bring in more people and businesses than a deli!.

sit tight.

A lady from Natchez with this same name, was sentenced to jail for investment fraud in 2013. Interesting ....

Child Care Center? Wait, did she figure out some way to scam a Head Start grant to pay for all this? I wonder what’s in that cup that’s got her so excited? No way this is all privately funded. Just another way how to show so wine scamming the system and screwing taxpayers. Can’t wait for “the rest of the story” on this.

I hope I’m wrong, and would love to see this work out, but this whole thing smells fishy.

Wait... this woman has been convicted of false pretense stemming from investments gone awry and she’s running this show?!? Who in the hell is trusting her with this kind of money?!

My favorite thing is that I can be buying hand-tools at Sears one minute, eating in one of the restaurants the next and then walk straight over to the picture show for the main feature.

8:35 has the best idea. And the prisoners could be used for labor in tearing down blighted properties throughout Jackson.

Bet thats red koolaid in that cup...and yep,think we're getting ready to be punked!

Didn’t, the city of Jackson buy Metrocenter a few years ago?

Keep in mind that only the core of the mall was sold. The four anchors are all owned by other parties. The part that was sold was only the interior that connects all the buildings, some of the parking lot and some vacant land to the south of the mall. Tear it down and you still have four buildings sitting there. That's not to say a developer couldn't figure out what to do with the land between the buildings. As far as retail goes, that's over and will never return. Ever.

Apartments on the first floor of the mall equals government housing tenants. Retailers will love that and their disposable income.

Make it an Amazon distribution center. Otherwise with retail dying a slow death all over the country, it's hard seeing any national retail chain making a risky investment in an area where there's a significant chance of failure.

Interesting, very interesting. I think Kingfish's "sit tight" advice is probably on target. Otherwise, 6:04, I'm not sure about red kool-aid. Maybe purple drank?

Crechales is moving half a mile west and will occupy the upper level. Wait...they're moving to Rankin. No, Florence.

Say waaaatt? I’ve never heard of someone executing a transaction like this and having (at least from google) 0 real estate experience. It would be interesting to hear where her financing came from. It certainly wasn’t a real estate minded bank and from her Facebook page it’s hard to believe “The Emily Sanders Show” would be pulling in the type of cashflow to service this debt. Got to be more to this story.

Go ahead and pull up her show Facebook page and see the hilariously photoshopped pic of her “sitting” in a studio. That should be the headline photo for this post.

I wonder who is the “we” she was referring to. I doubt that this lady actually owns the Metrocenter. She’s more likely the local spokesperson and representative, someone who looks like the community. I suspect a foreign investor(s) with deep pockets actually bought the property. While I wouldn’t have picked someone who comes across as flaky as she does, maybe she has the skills and experience to back up her vision. I wish them well and hope it works out.

The White Star Line would have sold the Titanic to anybody for $10,000. after it struck that iceberg. You could promise them that you will give them $50.00 down and pay the remaining $9,950. when and IF you can raise it intact and refurbish it to working order. Your challenge is refloating the damn thing.
If you can't, you will loose fifty bucks(and anything else you choose to invest in refloating). A lot of money back then. But, you are are now a steamship owner!

An internal movie theater would bring some foot traffic. Jackson deserves that much.

Is her 10 mil tied to the posters here? Just wondering.

Something has to happen with that property and Jackson in General. I look forward to some progress. Hell, fixing the Metrocenter parking lot would be an improvement.

Funny how you all complain but have no viable solutions. Someone spoke of tax dollars probably doesn’t live in Jackson.

Who cares how she announced or if the video was landscaped?

Anywho, happy Friday! Going to see the Gentleman tomorrow...should be a good watch.

I worked at Gayfers and McRaes at Metrocenter while in college. Back then, no one would buy the Gayfers space, as there were millions of dollars of foundation issues. It was also rumored at one point to have huge sinkholes under that mall. Maybe that rumor was even reported on at some point, can't remember for sure.

If ever a new arena was to be built in Jackson that would be the spot. Excellent freeway access/egress from all points on the compass. Put in enough seating and JSU could have a state-of-the-art indoor football facility too. Would be a great economic infusion for West Jackson and Highway 80. Time to abandon the downtown strategy boondoggle.

I'm immediately suspicious when someone uses a title like "He Said He Would Do It... and He DID!!!! FAITHFUL Is He !!!" (presumably a reference to God) to tout a real estate deal.

She has a Facebook page for her "show" (https://www.facebook.com/The-Emily-Sanders-Show-913272085540070) which hasn't had a post in over a year.

Her website (https://theemilysandersshow.com) would be laughable if she wasn't serious about her marketing or "brand".

I have a feeling someone is about to get hustled.

Daycare, studio apartments and a beauty school. Yep. That says government money. The People’s Mall. Right.

I'm not sure how she will get stores to come to the mall when most of the local residents in the immediate vicinity live on government assistance and have no money to spend at the retailers.

Retro Metro was the last plan for this space.
Emily Seiferth-Sanders from Natchez has someone with the same name, from the same town with a fraud conviction.
https://m.natchezdemocrat.com/2013/01/29/natchez-woman-convicted-of-fraud-in-business-scheme/

I’m betting the water/sewer bill and electric bill for 1,200,000 sf of retail space will exceed 6 figures monthly.
She better hurry up and secure some tenants if she’s turning on the escalators.

Retro metro cost David Watkins his freedom.
I’m betting that Ms. Overby may also have stripes in her future.

My theory is that someone from out of state without knowledge of Jackson was sold this property while being presented data about the whole of the Jackson Metro Area.

she is married to Merrick Sanders. Maybe he is the money behind this...

Follow the Money says,
Our tax dollars are involved and Big Bucks Bennie wrote the check

"70s Baby said...
Is her 10 mil tied to the posters here? Just wondering.

Something has to happen with that property and Jackson in General. I look forward to some progress. Hell, fixing the Metrocenter parking lot would be an improvement.

Funny how you all complain but have no viable solutions. Someone spoke of tax dollars probably doesn’t live in Jackson.

Who cares how she announced or if the video was landscaped?

Anywho, happy Friday! Going to see the Gentleman tomorrow...should be a good watch." January 24, 2020 at 9:03 AM

'70s Baby', your style of communication seems familiar. Do you frequently speak before the Jackson City Council, wearing something on your head which resembles a crocheted spare tire cover? Did you recently replace your falling-apart army surplus camo outfit, with a new one?

But back to the subject under discussion: have you been smoking a certain something since the '70s, "Baby"? Is that the reason why you're having trouble making the distinction between COMPLAINTS and COMMENTS? Posters here, are commenting, rather than complaining. I doubt that anyone commenting here, has been to Metrocenter in decades. Few, if any, of these commenters live in Jackson or Hinds County. Some of us no longer even live in the South. NONE of us live in South Jackson. We have no investment or real interest in Metrocenter or South Jackson. Those who are disinvested and disinterested, tend to OBSERVE (or bemuse) rather than COMPLAIN.

I hope that whatever gentleman you are going to see, tomorrow, will be able to help you.

She seems like a very nice person but get real. How can you trust someone that touts Payless, a defunct company,
as a tenant? 1500 malls have closed around the country for a reason. The operating cost for this property are astronomical. I can only imagine the deferred maintenance cost to open it. Repaving and striping the parking lots; servicing the HVAC systems, interior and exterior light bulb replacement, new carpeting, new locks, pest control, thorough cleaning, grease traps, etc. Liability insurance in a high crime area will be astronomical and will require 24/7 security force andlikely a new security system. It would be very interesting to see the business plan and financials that were submitted to the underwriters. I do wish her well but something is very fishy here. Consolidation of schools seems to be a better idea. Or, a vocational training hub? Casino? Trucking/shipping hub?

Sadly, Jacktown will never rise to its former glory days until it hits bottom first, just like an addict. But nothing will ever improve as long as Jacktown has a radical left-wing socialist nut for a mayor.

Open a mall in a violent ghetto? What could go wrong?

This is another hustle/shakedown for some of that gubment money.

11:53
After all the words you typed...aren’t you and the “baby” making similar points?

Oh and the Gentleman is a movie out today. You might need some entertainment lol

If this is the same folks, this could be a great story. https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2012/03/30/couple-charged-with-embezzlement/

Then there is this from 2012;

FAYETTE — A Natchez couple is behind bars in Jefferson County on charges they embezzled more than $100,000.

Emily Sanders, 53, and Merrick Sanders, 54, of 302 Mansfield Drive, were arrested earlier this week on charges of embezzlement under contract for crimes alleged to have happened in Jefferson County.

Sheriff Peter Walker said that according to information provided to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Emily Sanders allegedly told an individual she needed money to open a business.

Ummm... is this the same Emily Sanders of Natchez ? Asking for a friend.

Bulldoze the whole place and build a Six Flags. Of course, they’d need to build a double razor wire fence with armed guard towers around the parking lot to keep the locals out, but I think it could work. I’m tired of having to drive to Atlanta or Dallas for some decent roller coasters. Could do away with the State Fair while we’re at it.

Convucted felon...Adams County 2013???
Natchez Democrat

Articles have been careful to state that the property in question was appraised at $10.0M. Overby had a published asking price of $6.85M. It will be interesting to see what they really paid, because it's likely a drop in the bucket when compared to what it will take to do all that she describes.

She’s a convicted felon, con artist. Ain’t none of whatever came out of her mouth happening.

@9:02 Jackson is already getting what it deserves.
@9:03 You won't be seeing it in Jackson.
@11:53 Some posters here actually do own property in South Jackson.

Looks like Cynical Sam is suffering from Jackson Derangement Syndrome. He needs our thoughts and prayers in this difficult time.

January 24, 2020 at 9:29 AM, now that you mention foundation issues and sinkholes underneath, I recall being there with friends as a teenager on the 2nd level of McRae's, I believe, and we would always stand still and feel movement.

Anyway, we digress. Mystery as to why owners and brokers didn't do a quick Google like all of us did. Guess they got their $$ and can't worry about it.

@2:48 PM - bless you, as I need all of the prayers that y'all can send my way, but be sure to cc: Jacktown.

I'm praying for you Cynical Sam, a warriors prayer. May your hand be steady and your aim be true. And may your ferocity strike fear in the hearts of thine enemies.

Hey you white folks should know “government funded” developments the best!!!! I live in New Orleans and you MFs have bought everything with you government funded tax credits and incentives on the back of poor minorities! Tuh

She also ran afoul of the law in Illinois. Something about trying to bilk investors by offering a 100% return in 90 days.

http://bit.ly/emilysanders

Honestly, anyone who might be stupid enough to do business with a serial scammer deserves what they get. My concern is that she might have raised money from churches and from people who can ill afford to get scammed.

The old saying “you can’t go back home”. She is wasting her money. He wants to shop with a playground in the bottom floor. Who wants to live in a mall studio apartment. A mall is for shopping!!!! Not for living!!! Or baby sitting.. l won’t be shopping there cause it don’t be safe.. this is a delusion for sure..

I hate to make judgements or accuse anyone, but as a long time functioning alcoholic who learned to hide his drinking pretty well, she's drunker than Cooter Brown. Her hairbrained scheme to do something with that place is insane. When I worked there in the 80's we were already calling it Ghetto Center. Nothing can be done with that place.