A Shreveport businessman is leading an effort to revive a proposed entertainment, retail and housing development along Cross Bayou in downtown Shreveport.
Dubbed Cross Bayou Point, the proposal would include a sports area, a municipal office complex, and up to 5,000 housing units. Developers also want to lure a charter school to the site.
The developers estimate the project would cost $1 billion and would include not just Cross Bayou but Ledbetter Heights to the west.
Paul Pratt, regional government relations director for Chesapeake Energy, is leading a newly formed group that says it's talked with Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler and some council members about the project.
In 2017, Shreveport City Council members rejected a $130 million proposal designed to lure the New Orleans Pelicans' developmental league team.
The Pelicans are eyeing Pensacola, Florida, for that team but haven't signed a deal with officials there.
In a news release, the developers said they will seek a nonbinding letter of intent with Shreveport to create a public-private partnership for the project.
