Amazon Centers of Baton Rouge

[dan326]

Thanks! I was wondering why I couldn't get the picture to show.

Double huh? I was trying to guess at how tall the mall is.

Edit: Using  linear measurements and streetview pics from google I calculated the service portion sitting on top of Dillard's is ~51' and the JCPenny facade is ~60'.  So yeah, that  new building will rise high.

Edited April 23, 2021 by dan326

[richyb83]

THANKS Dan for those measurements!  It was a conservative guess w/o wanting to go too high...sounds right 25 -30' feet tall per tall per floor of anchor  department stores Shopping Mall.

The massive Amazon structure slated to be 90 feet might be equal  to  6 or 7 story office building....

 

[cajun]

The Baton Rouge area would do well to start identifying and zoning sites for regional distribution centers of up to 1,000,000 square feet (at least 3-4 locations like this)- preferably located near zoning that can facilitate truck stops and OTR truck related infrastructure.   

Where Amazon goes, other retailers like WalMart, Lowes and Target often show up with new e-commerce focused DC's very quickly.    Something like this but without the rail connections and larger sites for bigger DC footprints might be exactly what we need now.   As close to I-10/I-12 as possible.    Maybe that means the area around the airport, or perhaps Livingston Parish.   

 

I'm saying there will be demand for things like this in the Baton Rouge-Hammond-Lafayette area very soon.   

 

The better prepared Baton Rouge can be in attracting these things, the more likely it gets those jobs for unskilled labor.    IMO the La/415/I-10 area in Port Allen,  the area around I-110/Airline, or the area around  around Choctaw/Central Thruway in Baton Rouge would be the ideal location, as they are very close to a lot of potential workers, the highways, the airport, and are mostly suitable for massive sprawling buildings like this.

It might be worth the BRAC/Parish leadership approaching Target, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. and offering to help build access roads or sort out drainage if they are willing to locate large DC's in the area.  

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

The Baton Rouge area would do well to start identifying and zoning sites for regional distribution centers of up to 1,000,000 square feet (at least 3-4 locations like this)- preferably located near zoning that can facilitate truck stops and OTR truck related infrastructure.   
Where Amazon goes, other retailers like WalMart, Lowes and Target often show up with new e-commerce focused DC's very quickly.    Something like this but without the rail connections and larger sites for bigger DC footprints might be exactly what we need now.   As close to I-10/I-12 as possible.    Maybe that means the area around the airport, or perhaps Livingston Parish.   

 
I'm saying there will be demand for things like this in the Baton Rouge-Hammond-Lafayette area very soon.   

 
The better prepared Baton Rouge can be in attracting these things, the more likely it gets those jobs for unskilled labor.    IMO the La/415/I-10 area in Port Allen,  the area around I-110/Airline, or the area around  around Choctaw/Central Thruway in Baton Rouge would be the ideal location, as they are very close to a lot of potential workers, the highways, the airport, and are mostly suitable for massive sprawling buildings like this.
It might be worth the BRAC/Parish leadership approaching Target, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. and offering to help build access roads or sort out drainage if they are willing to locate large DC's in the area.  
 

I agree, Cajun. I hope the entire south Louisiana region can work together to best prepare for this investment and prepare our citizens to fulfill the employment requirements. I think West BR, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and St. Tammany could benefit the most. But I would imagine the state would have go get serious about another bridge.

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[cajun]

15 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:

I agree, Cajun. I hope the entire south Louisiana region can work together to best prepare for this investment and prepare our citizens to fulfill the employment requirements. I think West BR, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and St. Tammany could benefit the most. But I would imagine the state would have go get serious about another bridge.

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk
 

Yep. 

I honestly think the lack of a bridge in Plaquemine oddly makes West Baton Rouge (along LA1 or LA415) and north Baton Rouge (Howell/Airport/US61  area) particularly appealing because sites in those areas can be approached easily by either of the existing two bridges depending on traffic or time of day.  That's likely why Amazon went with LA415/I-10 for their sorting center, and Cortana for their fulfillment center.   Unfortunately there's probably less than a dozen suitable sites that can support 1,000,000+ square foot centers in those areas given the recent developments there in the recent past like Coca-Cola, Criterion, Amazon, Katoen Natie, and those damn solar farms.   

You'd be surprised at how many available plots in West Baton Rouge are bisected by pipelines or are locked behind a railroad crossing.    There are a lot of options, but it's not as wide open as you'd think.

I can't understate how frustrated I am by the lack of focus at BTR airport.   This is their moment to attract freight cargo, and they are still sort flat footed.   They need another 1,000 ft of runway now.

Edited May 1, 2021 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

Yep. 
I honestly think the lack of a bridge in Plaquemine oddly makes West Baton Rouge (along LA1 or LA415) and north Baton Rouge (Howell/Airport/US61  area) particularly appealing because sites in those areas can be approached easily by either of the existing two bridges depending on traffic or time of day.  That's likely why Amazon went with LA415/I-10 for their sorting center, and Cortana for their fulfillment center.   Unfortunately there's probably less than a dozen suitable sites that can support 1,000,000+ square foot centers in those areas given the recent developments there in the recent past like Coca-Cola, Criterion, Amazon, Katoen Natie, and those damn solar farms.   
You'd be surprised at how many available plots in West Baton Rouge are bisected by pipelines or are locked behind a railroad crossing.    There are a lot of options, but it's not as wide open as you'd think.
I can't understate how frustrated I am by the lack of focus at BTR airport.   This is their moment to attract freight cargo, and they are still sort flat footed.   They need another 1,000 ft of runway now.

Are you saying the sites are appealing because there is enough connectivity with the I-10 and 190 bridges?

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[cajun]

9 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:

Are you saying the sites are appealing because there is enough connectivity with the I-10 and 190 bridges?

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk
 

Yeah - it's oddly one of the only places where it makes sense in the whole metro area because it's relatively easy to get to either bridge.   You aren't reliant on one or the other so much.

 

Maybe they'll surprise us and redevelop the old Belmont site into a huge DC (although I think it's too small for that).   Easy access to the airport from there, and inbound/outbound trucks can take either the US190 bridge or the I-10 bridge fairly easily depending on traffic reports.  

Edited May 3, 2021 by cajun

[richyb83]

The Amazon effect: Strip center at Florida and N. Sherwood Forest sells for $1.6M

After more than six years on the market, a retail strip center at the intersection of North Sherwood Forest and Florida boulevards anchored by a long-shuttered Albertsons supermarket has sold for $1.6 million, or a little more than $4.50 per square foot.

https://www.businessreport.com/realestate/the-amazon-effect-strip-center-at-florida-and-n-sherwood-forest-sells-for-1-6m

[richyb83]

Cortana Mall's rise, fall, demolition: The end of the one-time largest enclosed mall in the South

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_f53a0ff6-a86b-11eb-acd1-47bae8a207a5.html

While its location at Airline Highway and Florida Boulevard became one of the busiest intersections in the city, the land had been "nothing but heavy timber with a few beaver ponds," said Frank G. Sullivan Jr., one of the mall’s developers and owners, in a 1986 Advocate story. It had been part of the Cortana Plantation, a sugar-cane farming operation.

Sullivan and Womack had acquired the 417-acre site with plans to develop a regional mall on the property. At the time, the only mall in the city was Bon Marche, located about 2 miles west down Florida Boulevard.

In 1970, Morton L. Olshan, president of New York-based Mall Properties, joined the partnership.    

Mall Properties oversaw the architectural and engineering layout; attracted top national and local retailers, including Sears, J.C. Penney, Dillard’s and locally owned Goudchaux’s; and established the mall management.

“The people that built Cortana knew what they were doing,” said Dottie Tarleton, a commercial real estate agent with Stirling Properties. “They were pretty savvy with their connections.”

Construction started on Cortana in 1974. The mall cost $7.7 million to build, which comes to $41 million after adjusting for inflation.

[cajun]

On 4/22/2021 at 4:05 PM, richyb83 said:

THANKS Dan for those measurements!  It was a conservative guess w/o wanting to go too high...sounds right 25 -30' feet tall per tall per floor of anchor  department stores Shopping Mall.

The massive Amazon structure slated to be 90 feet might be equal  to  6 or 7 story office building....

 

97' -  1" at its highest point.   6 floors of employees, goods, and robots.  

Yeah about 7 stories for a typical commercial building.

Edited May 17, 2021 by cajun

[dan326]

[cajun]

They are working very quickly.

[greg225]

$200M Amazon fulfillment center at Cortana Mall to employ 1,000; here's estimated finish date                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       $200M Amazon fulfillment center at Cortana Mall to employ 1,000; here's estimated finish date | News | theadvocate.com

[richyb83]

Thought this was cool...they found a 45 year old time capsule when Cortana opened back in 1976

https://973thedawg.com/45-year-old-time-capsule-uncovered-at-old-cortana-mall-in-baton-rouge/

[cajun]

14 hours ago, richyb83 said:

Thought this was cool...they found a 45 year old time capsule when Cortana opened back in 1976

https://973thedawg.com/45-year-old-time-capsule-uncovered-at-old-cortana-mall-in-baton-rouge/

If they find a 1973 Buick Skylark that was reported stolen.....they can keep it.

 

Just kidding.  It wasn't stolen until 1987.

Edited July 2, 2021 by cajun

[dan326]

A portion is topped out. 

[cajun]

On 10/14/2021 at 4:33 PM, dan326 said:

A portion is topped out. 

Thanks for the picture.  I've been looking for an update in the news on this. 

  It's a huge win that we were able to get this one to locate where an old, obsolete shopping mall once stood right in the middle of the most populated parish in the state of Louisiana.

Edited October 18, 2021 by cajun

[cajun]

Latest photo from Business Report's Capitol Assets feature.

https://www.businessreport.com/business/capital-assets-2022-baton-rouge-capital-region-lsu

 

 

 

And the satellite photo from about the same time. 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by cajun

[dan326]

Cool, one of my coworkers joked that they're putting the building together with glue to build it so fast.

[cajun]

9 hours ago, dan326 said:

Cool, one of my coworkers joked that they're putting the building together with glue to build it so fast.

Haha - yeah those warehouses come up fast.   They typically use lot of steel for the structural elements, so it's mostly just a matter of screwing it together before they pour the concrete and install the pre-cast facade and the Firestone-made roofing materials over the metal decking.    Most of the building can be prepared off site and trucked in, then assembled like a giant erector set.   Amazon's developer also uses the same contractors and suppliers (sort of like Wal Mart, Raising Canes, McDonalds, etc.) so they have enough experience to anticipate potential issues with the schedule and mitigate them effectively.

It also helps that it's not going to have elaborate interior finishes as a warehouse.   They will spend at least as much time staffing up and programing all of the robotic equipment than they do building the shell.

I bet it's almost the exact layout that Amazon will eventually use in a half dozen other cities.  

Edited February 15, 2022 by cajun

[dan326]

^Hmm interesting and good points...I wonder if they'll give tours like they did for the children's hospital cause I'd go just to be nosey?

[richyb83]

Baton Rouge hopes Amazon will revitalize Florida Boulevard. What will that look like?

The announcement two years ago that Amazon would build a $215 million fulfillment center left Baton Rouge officials optimistic that the jobs and tax revenue provided by the center would serve as an economic jolt to a long-neglected corridor of the city. 

Officials are now moving forward with the creation of a Florida Corridor Master Plan that will outline how an expected increase in sales tax revenue around the center will be invested into the revitalization of Florida Boulevard, according to a Monday news release from the mayor-president's office. 

The Florida Corridor Master Plan will not be contained just within the boundaries of the economic district near the old Cortana Mall. Instead, officials hope the Amazon fulfillment center will serve as a launching point to redevelop Florida Boulevard from the Mississippi River to the border with Livingston Parish, city-parish spokesman Mark Armstrong said. 

Florida Boulevard was once an economic hub of the city, but over the years, the corridor has disintegrated from disinvestment and White flight. 

The master plan is expected to include details on how the corridor can be remade to include walking paths, bike lanes, lighting, additional housing and public spaces while also cutting down on blight. The plan will include a location for a $500,000 community center, a first for Metropolitan Council District 6. 

Growth along Florida Boulevard has reignited over the last couple years. Rouses Markets broke ground last fall on a grocery that will open in the summer at the intersection of Florida and North Ardenwood Drive. Baton Rouge General reopened its Mid City emergency room in 2020 and development in the area will be tied to the Florida redevelopment, according to the RFP.

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/baton-rouge-launches-plans-to-revitalize-florida-corridor/article_052e04d0-9b54-11ed-b5d0-eb1f9df81a5b.html

Edited January 25 by richyb83

[dan326]

That'll sounds like a nice plan. Hopefully they can knock down more old buildings like they did to the old Borden factory.