Business owners in the French Market District are fighting for longer leases.
These shops lease their spaces through the French Market Corporation. At a meeting Thursday, the board was set to vote on renewing its agreement with Corporate Realty. However, after shop owners voiced their concerns about recent issues with the leasing process, that vote was postponed.
“I have been month-to-month for 11 years, and I have been proactive through three directors of the French Market and several mayors. requesting my lease,” Rhonda Findley said.
Findley owns Pop City, one of 13 shops that are currently month-to-month tenants in the French Market District. The shop has been there since 2008.
Findley said they put her space on the market on March 25. She submitted a proposal to the FMC on May 4, offering to pay more in rent and make upgrades to her shop, but she still hasn’t been offered a lease.
When leases are up, the FMC publicly lists the spaces for lease. Executive Director KC Guidry said this is to maintain an even playing field, as FMC is a public entity.
“Out of fairness and understanding of what the public requirement is, that’s why we put them on the market for 30 days, because just because you’ve been in a spot for a long time, there might be a new business or someone who is young and upcoming who also wants that opportunity,” she said.
For the month-to-month tenants, Guidry said that which shops are listed first depends on the shop’s sales.
Ongoing Sewerage and Water Board construction on nearby Decatur Street has also soured the process. Michael Lester owns Nawlins Sports, a shop in the French Market District that has been there for 25 years. He was asking for a new lease for two years, before he was offered one last fall.
“Two weeks after the fences went up, they showed up with a lease, and they gave me a one-year deal with a $2,000 rent increase. So for me, it feels like they were negotiating in bad faith,” he said.
Guidry said that last year, FMC adopted a new market rate study to use as a guideline for rent prices. As far as the SWB construction, she said French Market shops haven’t been impacted.
“We have looked at the numbers across the board and our tenants are actually performing better since the construction started,” she said.
Councilman Freddie King also voiced support for tenants, pushing FMC to increase transparency during the leasing process.
“From what I’ve been told, just saying, ‘Hey, your rent is increasing. If you can’t pay, get out.’ That’s not the right way to do it. If it’s happening that way, then that has to stop immediately. I think that there needs to be more of a robust way of figuring out who that new tenant is going to be,” he said.
The board decided to postpone a vote on renewing its partnership with Corporate Realty until the month-to-month leasing process can be examined.
READ MORE:French Market District businesses fighting for longer leases
