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The Water Campus


dan326

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Would like to see a new map with new street & extensions :shades:...looking forward seeing the Iconic Old City Dock Building...Spring should be fun time to take construction pics across the area...the new office space will be nice at Water Campus...but not at the expense of new Modern High-rise Office Tower downtown.

Commercial Properties planning parking garage, new streets for Water Campus

With two buildings complete and a third one currently under construction, Commercial Properties Realty Trust is moving forward with plans to develop infrastructure at the Water Campus. The firm has submitted a final development plan to the city-parish Planning Commission for the 27.6-acre campus that includes a three-story, 50-foot parking garage as well as three new streets.

The updated plan is basically unchanged from earlier plans submitted for the Water Campus, a three-year-old public-private partnership spearheaded by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and its real estate company, CPRT. It’s envisioned as a research park for coastal and river studies.

So far, a $9 million office building that houses the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and a $16 million facility for LSU researchers that will house a 90-by-120-foot physical model of the Mississippi River have been completed. The CPRA moved into its building last summer. LSU is expected to relocate to its new digs later this month.

A third building on the site of the old city dock that will house The Water Institute of the Gulf is under construction and is expected to be complete later this year. Its estimated cost is more than $20 million.

The new parking garage will be built to accommodate parking for the TWIG building, CPRT spokeswoman Tina Rance says. It will be 108,000 square feet and will cost approximately $7 million, which is being funded by Commercial Properties.

The new proposed streets include an extension of the existing Arches Street; the construction of Water Street, which will run directly from Nicholson Drive to the TWIG building and be the formal entrance into the campus; and a new street called Brickyard Lane, which will run through the campus.

The Planning Commission staff recommends approval of the plans. The commission will meet to decide on the plans Jan. 17.

—Stephanie Riegel

https://www.businessreport.com/article/commercial-properties-planning-parking-garage-new-streets-water-campus

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On 10/30/2015 at 4:37 PM, greg225 said:

Unfortunately Cane Land Distilling didn't get built, but I hope BRAF will build something that will blend in with the Water Campus.

Very convenient for them that they happened to own a useless plot of land that nearly tripled in value overnight because of this project.   

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  • 1 month later...

This will be built next to the new Water Campus...but technically not part of it....guessing the complex will maybe be 3 stories?? 4 at most...however it's drawing heat looking at "Comments section" below...being low income housing...

So far none of the "River" named developments have gotten off the ground w the exception of River House

EBR Housing Authority to Build Affordable Housing Near the Water Campus

The East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority hopes to secure financing in the next 90 days for its planned mixed income, multifamily development near the Water Campus
River South, as the complex is known, will have 46 two- and three-bedroom units, most of which will be affordable housing units. Between six and 10 units, however, will be market rate, according to the housing authority’s executive director Richard Murray.

The apartment complex will be located on Oklahoma Street between Nicholson Drive and Highland Road across from the Water Campus.

River South is not to be confused with River House, a multifamily complex of 224 units also located near the Water Campus on the site of the old Prince Murat Hotel. That development is currently under construction.

Plans have also been announced previously for a River District, which would be a mixed-use development along Nicholson Drive near Magnolia Mound Plantation, and River Park, a mixed-use project along the riverfront downtown. Both of those projects have been stalled for years, however, due to financing and legal issues.

—Stephanie Riegel

https://www.businessreport.com/article/east-baton-rouge-housing-authority-build-affordable-housing-near-water-campus

 

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On 2/14/2017 at 11:55 PM, Antrell Williams said:

Low income housing can work, Columbia Parc in New Orleans balances it very well from what I hear. 

Right now there's high demand for rental property in the area with the flooding and the proximity to LSU.  It won't always be like that.   

IMO Baton Rouge's lack of planning allows for too many apartment complexes south of LSU.   They reduce demand for apartments north of campus (like this one) where the street grid can actually handle the traffic.   The area around Lee/Burbank/Ben Hur should have been single family housing and "local scale" retail, library, etc.   It should have never been turned into apartment city.   

Baton Rouge's HORRIBLE track record with planning is going to be a huge threat for this.  If we ever want to redevelop the old south section properly, we have to immediately stop approving massive apartment complexes south of LSU.  

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Right now there's high demand for rental property in the area with the flooding and the proximity to LSU.  It won't always be like that.   
IMO Baton Rouge's lack of planning allows for too many apartment complexes south of LSU.   They reduce demand for apartments north of campus (like this one) where the street grid can actually handle the traffic.   The area around Lee/Burbank/Ben Hur should have been single family housing and "local scale" retail, library, etc.   It should have never been turned into apartment city.   
Baton Rouge's HORRIBLE track record with planning is going to be a huge threat for this.  If we ever want to redevelop the old south section properly, we have to immediately stop approving massive apartment complexes south of LSU.  

I definitely agree with you, I was in the Cottages yesterday and I barely recognize that area from my childhood.
However, I don't have a problem with a lack of apartments north of campus as it limits gentrification in OSBR. With downtown and the Water Campus being nearby, as well as the light rail, I don't see why OSBR would need LSU students in the area. At least not to that level.

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23 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:


I definitely agree with you, I was in the Cottages yesterday and I barely recognize that area from my childhood.
However, I don't have a problem with a lack of apartments north of campus as it limits gentrification in OSBR. With downtown and the Water Campus being nearby, as well as the light rail, I don't see why OSBR would need LSU students in the area. At least not to that level.

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Some gentrification will happen....but that's not a bad thing.

It's impossible to increase density and spending power without adding some new people to the area.   The Nicholson corridor actually has a lot of development-appropriate space that is currently vacant.  That's where the focus for student housing should be instead of Burbank.   At least then perhaps the area can attract the retailers and grocery options that it needs.   From there it can start bringing in people other than students.  

Edited by cajun
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Some gentrification will happen....but that's not a bad thing.
It's impossible to increase density and spending power without adding some new people to the area.   The Nicholson corridor actually has a lot of development-appropriate space that is currently vacant.  That's where the focus for student housing should be instead of Burbank.   At least then perhaps the area can attract the retailers and grocery options that it needs.   From there it can start bringing in people other than students.  

Yeah of course. Just hopefully not too the level of the Bywater. And there's lots of older people who will eventually move on.

Mhmm, and with talks of the light rail, demand should guide developers towards that area.

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21 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:


Yeah of course. Just hopefully not too the level of the Bywater. And there's lots of older people who will eventually move on.

Mhmm, and with talks of the light rail, demand should guide developers towards that area.

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You know how this goes.   Comes in cycles.  Students are easy to get to move into the area.   Once that happens and some retail and amenities are established.....other types move in.   Maybe older graduate students or young professionals start investing and buying their first home in the area.    The older people in there on a fixed income either grow old and move on to a retirement home or sell out and leave.  

Neighborhoods always change.   Nothing ever stays constant.   May as well embrace it and try to manage it instead of fighting it.   It's like suburban sprawl in the sense that it can't be stopped, so efforts are better spent to make sure that in happens in a high-quality way.

For instance, a lot of cheap low income apartments and student housing managed by companies outside of Baton Rouge may not be the best way to improve that neighborhood in all cases.   Maybe effort needs to be focused on refurbishing and protecting the existing housing stock or using a potential surge in demand as political leverage for improving drainage, streetscape, or setting up an overlay district that can attract more investment.  Thousands of smaller investors with skin in the game  are better than a dozen big developers.    

I suspect that what works in this particular area it will eventually be the template for improving parts of North Baton Rouge and "downtown east".

I generally dismiss the social concerns over gentrification outright because so few of the people complaining about it actually seem to have genuine concerns over its impact.  In my experience, it is usually a guise for some other agenda.   I noticed that most of the people who complain the loudest about gentrification typically antagonize and even ridicule educated, higher income people for moving to the suburbs....then do the exact same thing when the same type of people invest in the inner city.   I don't think it's blatant hypocrisy so much as a deep disgust of those educated middle class people, white hipsters, etc. and their voting patterns that are seen as a threat to local politicians.   Since I'm firmly in that group of supervillains regardless of the choices that I make, I've never concerned myself with criticism over my lifestyle choice.    In other words, I don't care if my family moving into a neighborhood displaces old, poor people or wildlife or cattle.    Nothing we ever do in this arena will be concerned anything but bad, so I prioritize my family and don't concern myself with the critics.   I urge everyone else to think the same way and let the chips fall wherever they do.  

That being said, the legitimately concerned people out there need to focus on how to improve the area.  The best way to fight gentrification is to eliminate the value proposition of cheap housing in a desirable location by making it "less cheap" housing in a desirable location.    Improve the housing stock, public safety, and put the neighborhood on a path of economic stability for the next few decades....and the thinner returns will keep the outside investors away for a while.  Maybe the locals should think of hipsters, small investors, and the gay community as allies in this battle even if they don't look like they are from the neighborhood.

Edited by cajun
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It's nice to see the River House development adjacent to the Water Campus...but the glut of student housing south of LSU can't help the River District get off the ground ...it will be later rather than sooner

 

The soon to be Iconic Structure at the Old City Dock of the Water Campus; just south of the I-10 Mississippi River Bridge

The building will be headquarters for The Water Institute of the Gulf, and a research and interpretive center. It will be located on the historical Baton Rouge City Dock that was completed in 1926. The 33,000-square-foot, $22-million building will consist of an interpretive gallery, exhibit areas, offices, research labs and meeting and conference facilities.

DSCN1450_zps96yjosmr.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
3 hours ago, dan326 said:

^I don't see a guard rail in the rendering so I guess their just going to clean it up for decoration. It would have been nice if they could just remove it but maybe they need to keep it to keep boat from getting too close to the building.

Seems like it would be a good place for an outdoor event.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Beyond April Fools....I'd like to see Brown and Root move into new space at the Water Campus.   I think their line of work is fitting for the area in many ways.  They will be one of many firms that are involved with infrastructure on the gulf coast.   

With the Water Campus, they can build out their corporate office and as they expand, move into newer buildings in the immediate area over the next decade yet still keep their employees nearby.   They can hang onto addition real estate on campus in case they ever need a second or third building   

They have an iconic, historic name in the industrial world (especially on the gulf coast) and an iconic tower next to I-10 with their branding as the signature tenant on it would be huge for them.    It would be seen by 200,000+ cars every day.   A highly visible glass and granite skyscraper portrays success and industry dominance much the way that the Shaw Building did.  

houston-energy-hq-06.jpg

Of course major corporate offices comes the need for engineering, tech, and business consultants.   With that comes the need for hotels and restaurants.  

houston-energy-hq-06.jpg

Edited by cajun
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5 minutes ago, Antrell Williams said:

200,000+ cars that would have to look at it for at least 30 mins at a time too!

True.  

Looks like the next Water Campus building will be either the 3 or 4 story office building immediately next to the new Brickyard Lane.   Probably lobbying firms or smaller engineering companies.   If they get a few more of those and put the streets in, a hotel would likely jump on a portion of the property.  

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49 minutes ago, richyb83 said:

Yes indeed Cajun...take one of those sleek suburban Houston high-rises & make it a signature tower just south of the Bridge!  Maybe another one for the Fourth Street corridor btwn One American Place & Chase Towers

No kiddin Antrell <_<

The book end is there with Louisiana CPRA and LSU.    If they can have Brickyard Road rebuilt to a format with sidewalks and parking, it is only a matter of time before the rest of it is developed.  

It may not be home to a signature tower, but it is already an extension of downtown south of I-10 in a way that the area has yet to do east of I-110.   Can you think of a single better space for an office campus than The Water Campus right now in the entire state?  

- Extremely visible being adjacent to I-10 with 200,000 cars per day
- Less than 15 minutes to an airport with service from all legacy carriers and 1 hour away from nonstop service to Frankfurt and London.
- Fantastic views of the Mississippi River
- Blank slate with virtually no architectural restrictions
- 20 minutes to the best school district in the state (Zachary)
- 15 Minutes to Country Club of Louisiana, less than 5 minutes to the Garden District
- Immediately adjacent to a resurgent downtown area with walkable streets, hotels, museums, cultural attractions, and night life
- Plenty of available space for future expansion, hotels, and ample parking
- Easy access to popular urban and suburban areas popular with employees from all possible income brackets
- Minutes from a large top tier university and major atheltic facilities
- Riverfront Access with bike/walking trail
- Adjacent to planned light rail line

Edited by cajun
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The iconic building on the old City Dock "Topped Out" today.... is the 3rd building to go up so far at the Water Campus...with two more buildings going up possibly before the end of the year.  Pic i took  of 1st building didn't come out that good

*VIDEO*

http://www.wafb.com/story/35082118/topping-off-ceremony-held-for-third-building-at-water-campus-in-downtown-baton-rouge

https://www.businessreport.com/article/water-campus-building-gets-topped-off-afternoon

Source: WAFB

twc final rendering banner

 

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  • 2 months later...

I hate to always sound negative but hopefully they still have more work to do on the dock building. The rendering seems to show a mesh or lattice work metal skin suspended over a glass building. When I drove by though it looks like they're cloaking the building in corrugated metal with windows, à la Red Stick Lofts. To me the design was already sort of cheap looking so cost engineering it definitely didn't do it any favors.

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22 hours ago, dan326 said:

I hate to always sound negative but hopefully they still have more work to do on the dock building. The rendering seems to show a mesh or lattice work metal skin suspended over a glass building. When I drove by though it looks like they're cloaking the building in corrugated metal with windows, à la Red Stick Lofts. To me the design was already sort of cheap looking so cost engineering it definitely didn't do it any favors.

So what you are saying is that it is typical modernist trash?  

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