Paul Pratt talks with 101.7 / 710 KEEL's Robert J Wright and Erin McCarty about the Cross Bayou Point project, a proposed 10 year, $1 billion commercial, retail, sports and housing project in downtown Shreveport and Ledbetter Heights.

Pratt, currently director of government relations in the Shreveport area for Chesapeake Energy, says the state of Louisiana would be the primary tenant of the development and envisions a municipal complex with as many as 2,000 state workers moving from the current location on Fairfield Avenue.

The development would also consist of a new, 3,500 seat sports arena, a technology based charter school and a 5,000 unit housing development.

Pratt, commenting on similarities between the new Cross Bayou concept and a previous proposal which was voted down by the Shreveport City Council in 2017, said the earlier plan failed "because it was too small." He added that the amount of a possible bond issue to help fund the project is something yet to be negotiated.

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