Downtown Shreveport Development Corporation

Love local history and historic buildings? Then you'll want to be part of the work done by Downtown Shreveport Development Corporation, and DSDC2. We acquire, either through purchase or donation, historic buildings that have no prospects and no real hope, rehab them, and find great partners to give them new life. Examples of our work include 617 Texas Street, a building that was losing its roof and in danger of demolition that is now Robinson Film Center, 708 Texas Street, a former long-vacant furniture store that is now Artspace and PepitoXO, 421 Market Street, a building once threatened with demolition that now houses Dripp Donuts, a grim and dark space at 416 Cotton that is now the DDA offices, and others. 

DSDC not only acquires properties and saves them, we help others do the same. A stabilization loan we gave Blind Tiger restaurant prevented collapse of their back wall, grants to other properties went to roof repair and waterproofing, two items crucial in keeping historic buildings intact.  

The DSDC Facade Grant provided downtown property owners $352,000 to enhance their buildings, but it generated a remarkable $6.2m in additional investment by our owners! 

Our DSDC low interest revolving loan fund has lent more than $2.1m to downtown property owners wishing to rehab or repair their own properties. The return to downtown, the City of Shreveport, and citizens has been immense- more buildings in use attracting more sales and foot traffic. A cleaner, more vibrant downtown, better experiences and more opportunities for all.

We want you to be a part of all that we are doing! We are currently working on our next historic building project downtown and one thing is certain; it will cost more to rehab than we expect. Post- Covid supply chain issues, worker shortages and increased costs have created a lot of uncertainty. 

We are asking that you, with your donation, become a partner in downtown revitalization. Your donation in Give for Good will go into a DSDC fund that will only be used specifically for historic building renovation. We will keep you informed about the acquisition of the building and the progress along the way and acknowledge the role you played in putting another of our important buildings back to work.

If you have ever wanted to buy and renovate a historic building and are interested in preserving our history and heritage, this is for you.  We hope that you will become part of downtown in a way that will make a positive difference for years to come!

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Here's our website.