Shreveport Takes Step to Approve Agreement With 50 Cent

Today, the Shreveport City Council voted 7-0 to introduce a measure to give Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux approval to sign a lease agreement with G-Unit Film & Television for the Millennium Studios building. G-Unit Film is owned an operated by rapper, actor, producer, and all around entertainment mogul Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.

A final vote on this proposal is expected at the next council meeting.

This is a move that has been in the works between Jackson and the city for months.

You can see the ordinance reading at vote at the 38 minute mark in the meeting video:

Earlier this year, Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux sat down with KEEL News to discuss the plans. At the time, there were questions about whether or not Shreveport could sell the facility to Jackson, or if a different plan was needed. At that time, Arceneaux told KEEL News:

"He sent us what he called a letter of interest which had some very broad terms to it. So I went through a prior transaction we did with StageWorks back in 2006 to just kind of use that as a checklist of what do we need to cover and what are the things we need to discuss." Arceneaux continued, "His letter of interest included both the Expo Hall facility and Millenium Studios. And it is a lease proposal. Cities, generally speaking, cannot simply transfer properties to a private person. We can do a long-term lease, but we cannot just transfer property without declaring it surplus and taking bids."

When asked about Jackson's plans for the properties, Arceneaux said:

My understanding is that he has a contract commitment from, I believe it's Fox, to do multiple dozens of television shows. That's primarily what he wants to do... he needs a ready, reliable place where he can produce those TV shows, and we have a ready, reliable place where he can do that, so he's interested in Millennium. We're not quite so sure what he wants to do with Expo Hall. You know, we've just redone that for athletics and that kind of thing so, that is a question that we had.

At that point, Arceneaux told KEEL News that talks with Jackson would continue, and added that he thought things seemed to be going very smoothly from both sides.