In a move to rehabilitate one of the city’s largest blighted parcels, Natchez aldermen on Monday approved measures to partner with private developers on a $25 million reconstruction of the long-neglected Trace Town shopping center on Seargent Prentiss Drive.
The board voted to designate Trace Town as an urban renewal area, a step that enables the city to help developers access a state program used to finance projects that revitalize blighted properties. Officials said the designation will make it easier to assemble public financing and incentives necessary to attract national retailers and complete the site’s redevelopment.
A Tennessee-based developer, Noon Real Estate of Chattanooga, has formed an incorporated subsidiary called Noon Trace Town to lead the project. Noon, which has developed more than two dozen shopping centers housing national chains such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Academy Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods — will be the lead private partner on the Natchez project.
The board also approved a financing arrangement under which the city may issue up to $6.5 million in bonds to help pay for the redevelopment. To repay that public investment, the city will forgo a portion of property and sales taxes generated by the new development and use those revenues to reimburse the developer for eligible expenses tied to construction and site improvements, officials said.
Plans already under way include demolition of most existing structures on the site — with the exception of the U.S. Post Office branch — to make room for new construction. Local businessman Jimmy Smith, who purchased Trace Town in 2023, unveiled plans in April that included Hobby Lobby as an early anchor tenant; city and developer documents indicate a Hobby Lobby is expected to be built where the former Sears once stood, near the Regions bank and Walgreens, with construction slated for completion by next spring.
City officials said a written agreement negotiated with Noon outlines the developer’s responsibilities for the project alongside the city’s commitment to reimburse eligible redevelopment costs. Officials framed the public-private partnership as a way to remove blight, restore commercial activity to a major retail corridor and spur additional investment in the area.
The aldermen’s action represents a two-track approach to the city’s longstanding blight problem: while some properties around town are being declared public nuisances and slated for cleanup by city crews, officials are pursuing larger-scale private redevelopment tools like the Trace Town project to address bigger commercial eyesores that require substantial investment.
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