What’s up at Clearview?

How is opening up an internal exposed walkway in a subtropical climate going to improve foot traffic at Clearview Mall?

That is the plan proposed by the developers to redesign the Veterans Blvd. shopping center. The new layout would also include a hotel and medical complex.

Developer Thomas Richards envisions a $100 million redesign of Clearview, which would place a hotel next to the existing AMC Movie Theater, facing Veterans Boulevard, and a medical office building and apartment complex in the back of the lot near the interstate. There would be an open-air alleyway, closed off from the parking lot, that’s being described as a festival and public space, recognizing that Clearview Mall as the new home of Jefferson Parish’s “Family Gras” concerts.

Clearview needs a re-envisioning. But is creating a closed-off and yet open-air walking thoroughfare out of an air-conditioned failing mall, the answer? Ripping off a roof, and simply having people walk down a similar pathway, no matter how well landscaped, will not create a center for festivals and public interaction in the suburbs – at least if the experience scene in other cities proves any indication.

The new, five-and-a-half-story, 150-room “limited service” hotel with a rooftop pool planned for the center of the new mall might help. But again, is there even a need for that room-space so far from both the new airport and downtown New Orleans? As Richards currently lacks a hotel operator (such as Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Super 8, or Hampton Inn), no one is available to answer those questions qualifyingly.

Richards leaned heavily on research conducted by Street Sense, a Bethesda, Maryland-based architectural and planning firm, to determine what was most needed in that part of Jefferson Parish and for modern concepts of mixed-use space.

“The main focus was on creating an exciting and energetic ‘streetscape,’” the developer said, promising that the open-air pedestrian walkway—cutting through the former Sears property and running along the length of the current mall up to the existing Target store property — will host festivals, food trucks, farmers markets, nightlife and other activities.

It is a laudable goal, if slightly hard to conceive given our area’s heat and rain.

And even if the hotel works as a draw, questions remain whether the area needs another medical office building? Remember, a proposed conversion of the old Horizon building across from Clearview failed in its attempt to do the same, and it was to have a second emergency room for East Jefferson General Hospital within as an anchor.

With all these ifs, the biggest one is, where is the financing coming from for this project? If the money comes simply from Mr. Richards and his bankers, it’s their dime and their gamble. The problem is, as comments to the press have implied, significant public aid constitutes part of the package.

The Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) is listed as a partner in the project. Statements about parish “incentives” to help bring about the redesign makes one wonder if JEDCO loans are involved in the redesign. In that case, a Jefferson Parish Agency would be pledging public money, yet due to the quasi-governmental structure of JEDCO (which allows for a degree of confidentiality in its deal-making), no details have been forthcoming whether parish-based incentives have been promised. Often, JEDCO’s covenants for these “incentive” deals are not released to the public.

Taxpayers need to know if the parish takes a risk with our tax dollars. Questions need to be answered before the wrecking ball rips down the center hall of Clearview Mall.

This article originally published in the December 9, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.