The "spirit" but not necessarily substance of public input

They're making a big to-do over the GNOF-led public meetings about their proposed TIF district but the actual decision about what happens to Charity is up to these guys.

The LSU Real Estate and Facilities Foundation has selected three developers — the same groups that were picked in an earlier attempt to redevelop Charity — as finalists and asked them to submit proposals by Aug. 20. Those will be evaluated by a committee made up of state Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne and officials from LSU, its foundations and medical schools.

On Thursday, the foundation released portions of the submissions from the three firms that landed them on the finalist list. Three other firms also applied, though their names and submissions were not released.

The documents released are essentially resumés for the development firms. They only hint in general terms at what their final proposals will look like, offering no details about what mix of uses might eventually fill the former hospital building.

It doesn't matter if they say what they want to do, anyway. Each proposal is likely to resemble the next with the decision coming down to who has the most pull with the committee.

On Thursday, the LSU Foundation responded to concerns voiced at the meeting about transparency and released the initial responses from developers in the state's selection process. The state used those developer letters earlier this year to pick the three finalists from a total of six. The development groups are New Orleans-based HRI Properties, Matthews Southwest and a partnership between El Ad US Holdings and CCNO Development.

Those letters contained a variety of information about the firms and their commitment to redeveloping the hospital, but they were spare in detail on what they'd ultimately propose in terms of possible tenants or the ultimate use of the building.

If I were guessing I would say they're going with HRI. But the only reason I say that is because it would make a more elegant addition to the boundaries of Kabacoffia (shown on the NOligarchs map in pink below) than it would to Jaegerton (shown in purple) should it go to the Matthews group.

 

It could be they just pick something at random.  We would never know. Instead the public is being asked to focus its attentions on helping Andy Kopplin get his TIF, although the reason for doing that is also highly dubious.

Ultimately, the aim of the effort being led by Kopplin is twofold: to create a master plan for the mainly rundown blocks surrounding the former hospital and to serve as a vehicle for tax-increment financing that could redirect tax revenues back into the district, for the redevelopment of Charity or other purposes.

Maybe the developers get some of it. Maybe it's for "other purposes." Who knows?  They do get to say they held some meetings and got some "public input," though. That automatically makes this a very legitimate process, right?