Talks to bring a $163 million development to airport property appear to be just that, talks.
On the bright side, taxpayers will likely save $49 million as a result.
Two years ago, Freedom Real Estate announced that it was bringing the Pinelands Lifestyle Center to Flowood.
The development would have been located on JMAA land behind an existing shopping center at the corner of Airport Road and Lakeland Drive.
JMAA granted Freedom a 270-day option to lease the property, meaning the developers would have first crack at the land after conducting an environmental assessment.
Since then, the Shreveport-based developers have been granted two extensions, with the last running out on February 19.
A month later, Freedom officials have not contacted JMAA asking for an additional extension. Nor have they signed an agreement to officially lease the site.
Meanwhile, a $48.75 million tax rebate granted to the developers by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) remains on the table.
Newman won’t say the project is dead, at least not until developers confirm they don’t want to move forward with the deal.
“That has not occurred yet. We’ll see what happens in the near future.”
In December 2015, Freedom announced plans to bring the Pinelands, a mixed-use commercial development, to airport property.
Under terms of the option to lease, the firm had to pay JMAA $25,000 and conduct an environmental assessment of the property.
Newman said that assessment data will be used as airport officials attempt to market the property to new potential clients.
The development was expected to have a mix of retail and professional space. At the time, Newman said Freedom had already named several major tenants expected to locate there.
Developers had also been approved for nearly $49 million in rebates as part of the cultural retail attraction sales tax.
As part of the now-defunct incentive, developers would have been reimbursed for up to that amount from sales taxes generated from the project.
MDA awarded Freedom its initial certificate in 2014, and gave an extension on it two years later, according to MDA documents.
Under the law, developers had two years to complete the project to be eligible to receive the rebates, but could receive an extension from MDA.
Newman said JMAA also would be open to extending the option to lease, but said there would not elaborate on what terms any extension would include.
“At this point, the ball is in the developers’ courts,” he said. “The authority has its land and it’s open and available for anyone who wants to come along.”
