Kenner police demand action from Esplanade Mall over trespassers

KENNER, LA (WVUE) - Kenner Police reports more than 100 trespassing incidents and 76 arrests at Esplanade Mall since 2022.

Kenner shoppers like Cindy Leaumont cling to memories of Esplanade Mall, the city’s former shopping center that opened in the 1980s only to be shuttered in 2021 after Hurricane Ida.

“[It was] beautiful...and it just went down — worse, and worse and worse,” Leaumont said.

While most of the property is shuttered, Target, Clearance Dillard’s, a movie theater and a handful of restaurants still bring in foot traffic, but nothing like the shopping center used to have in the past.

However, Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said the mall is growing into a hotbed for trespassers, who break into the mall to explore the abandoned spaces.

Sunday evening (Aug. 16), Conley said Kenner Police officers arrested four people — ages 18 to 19 — for trespassing in the mall. Conley said they were locals who wanted to see what the space looked like after all these years.

The four arrests come just days after 33-year-old Stephen Pamaran from Massachusetts surrendered to Kenner Police at their headquarters on August 13. Conley said Pamaran had a warrant out for his arrest after he posted a video of himself on YouTube allegedly breaking into the Esplanade Mall and wandering inside.

The video was posted in September 2025. Pamaran now face counts of unauthorized entry of a place of a business and unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety and publicity.

Conley said Pamaran’s video is one of many online videos that encourage copycats to venture into the mall to film content.

“Since I came into office, we’ve had over 100 incidents at the mall and involved over 76 arrests,” Conley said. “We have to hold the owner’s feet to the fire and have them do something.”

Conley said the mall poses a safety risk for for anyone that ventures inside, including trespassers and his officers who arrest them. He said there’s little lighting in the mall, the glass roof over the food court is shattered, some of the ceilings have started falling and there are sinkholes throughout the property.

For those reasons, Conley sent a letter to the Wyn Group, the owner of the mall, two weeks ago summoning representatives to Kenner Mayor’s Court to hash out an abatement schedule for the property.

He said the goal is to set reasonable goals that Wyn Group can achieve to make the Esplanade Mall less of a safety hazard for Kenner.

The court date is scheduled for Aug. 28, and if no representatives show up, he said he will seek further legal action.

“If they don’t appear, if they don’t hold true, then we are going file an injunctive relief and take it to state court, where they can take it to a state judge,” Conley said.

The recent break-ins have also prompted questions about the future of roughly 72-acre site, which is the largest abandoned property in Jefferson Parish.

“They’re just letting this place go to hell, and I think its totally ridiculous,” Kenner Councilman At-Large George Branigan said.

Branigan voiced his concerns with the Wyn Group with the mall now listed as for sale at $12.5 million.

Back in 2023, the Wyn Group proposed a plan to completely revitalize the Esplanade Mall and turn it into a modern mixed use space with residential and retail areas.

It gave Branigan hope that the vacant space would turn into something major and ambitious for Kenner, especially since the city is heavily reliant on sales tax.

Branigan said since the mall sits without any sign of development, the city is losing out on revenue.

“20 years ago, it was around 6 to 7 million, maybe $8 million a year. Now it’s just $1 million. That’s what we need to survive,” he said.

The Wyn Group did not respond to questions about its abatement plans or whether it has abandoned its revitalization plans for good.

Regardless, neighbors want to see something done about the massive eyesore.

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