History for Sale: The Lofts at 624 Goes on the Market

The first time Stokes saw the repurposed former Sears Department Store was at a meeting at Rhino Coffee downtown. It reminded him of the upscale properties in Dallas and elsewhere, and when Chris and Walker-Alley & Associates got the listing to sell the Lofts buildings, he immediately determined he would market them heavily outside of Shreveport.

Columns/Opinions

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018

DOWNTOWN CHANGE

By Liz Swaine

Edwin Edwards (of course) was governor of Louisiana, but in March 1988, he turned the office over to fresh-faced North Louisiana newcomer Buddy Roemer. 1988 was the year Microsoft released Windows 2.

Columns/Opinions

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018

DOWNTOWN ARTWALK

By Liz Swaine

A couple of years ago, a group of talented and creative souls were huddled around the DDA conference table playing a game of “who’s going to the bathroom first?” Katy Larsen of The Agora Borealis, Christine Bailey of Norsworthy Gallery, David Nelson...

Community

Monday, Aug. 13, 2018

Strong Towns

By Liz Swaine

to blow up the status quo, to force the reconsideration of long-held beliefs about community strengths and weaknesses, to put the myths of growth on display, and to encourage what has become a remarkable and overdue public dialogue about future planning.

Columns/Opinions

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Dear Candidate

By Liz Swaine

When I was a journalist, I loved election years. They were roller-coasters, years when anything could happen (and generally did), and the candidate quotes were often eye-opening.

Business

Monday, May 8, 2017

DOWNTOWN’S ‘LOFTY’ RETURN

By Liz Swaine

In April, downtown Shreveport’s highest-profile rehab in recent memory – the Lofts at 624 – began welcoming apartment dwellers. The moves come none too soon for people who see the development as an important step forward in the revitalization of Shreveport’s historic downtown.

Community

Monday, Aug. 15, 2016

PADDLING DOWNTOWN

By Liz Swaine

The 600 and 700 blocks of Texas Street have been paddling hard for a while now. There’s money being spent, buildings being rehabbed, businesses opening and expanding.

Business

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

DownTown: Trending now?

Shreveport seeing increases in downtown residential

By Liz Swaine

Last week, I came across a list of trends published by Urbanscale, a company whose job it is to keep up with what downtowns are doing across the country. Always curious to see how we are doing compared to others, I dove in … and almost immediately broke into a smile.

Columns/Opinions

Monday, Nov. 9, 2015

Local Forces

By Liz Swaine

Almost inevitably, some of those stories will revolve around small businesses. It might involve that hole-in-the-wall Colorado general store five miles from the edge of nowhere with the best ice cream you’ve ever eaten and a National Park Service...

Columns/Opinions

Tuesday, April 28, 2015