Baton Rouge Growth and Development

[Mr. Burnham]

So I have some insider information that quite honestly makes me sick. NBR needs and ER, but it must be built by Our Lady of the Lake.

[dan326]

Why does that make you sick?

[cajun]

If OLOL was still downtown, this wouldn't be an issue.   Most cities Baton Rouge's size have major hospitals downtown that draw patients from all over the region.  

Edited April 4, 2016 by cajun

[all2neat]

The area I live in is very fast growing and we have a severe lack of hospitals. We have these small emergency rooms. They can triage people and if necessary make a safe transfer to a full hospital should longer term care be required. I think these would be helpful.

 

http://www.fcer.com/

Edited April 5, 2016 by all2neat

[richyb83]

Many out-of-state businesses find the Capital City a perfect place to enter the Louisiana market

But Buc-ee’s and Main Event Entertainment aren’t alone in launching their Louisiana presence via Baton Rouge. Other companies that have done the same in recent years include Trader Joe’s, MOOYAH Burgers, Newk’s Eatery, Which Wich, Cowboy Chicken, Java Mama and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, among others.

So what makes Baton Rouge such an attractive option for national and regional retailers looking to enter the Louisiana market?

“It’s on the interstate, it has the traffic, they have the employment base, it has LSU—which is a great college town and a great college experience,” explains Buc-ee’s owner and founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin,

https://www.businessreport.com/business/many-state-businesses-find-capital-city-perfect-place-enter-louisiana-market

 

Imagine what this would look like on a downtown city block

Edited May 12, 2016 by richyb83

[dan326]

Yeah that would be neat, maybe on Lafayette Street with a hotel on top.

[dan326]

LDG Development interested in building housing development on former Bellemont Hotel site

A Louisville, Kentucky-based development company specializing in affordable housing is interested in building multigenerational housing complex at the site of the old Bellemont Hotel on Airline Highway.

Evan Holladay, development manager for LDG Development LLC, says the concept is to allow elderly people to be near their families while residing in an assisted living facility.

Details are scarce because it’s so early in the planning stages, but Holladay says the average size of similar developments in cities such as Austin, Texas, is a 200-unit apartment complex and 100-unit senior living facility..

LDG Development has built two affordable housing complexes in Baton Rouge, Mallard Lakes on Greenwell Springs Road and Woodcrest Apartments on Lobdell Boulevard, and is developing a third, Port Royal Apartments on Airline Highway near Evangeline Street.

https://www.businessreport.com/article/ldg-development-interested-building-housing-development-former-bellemont-hotel-site

[richyb83]

Thanks for posting Dan..was going to but got sidetracked....Hope this development works out &* will be kept up nicely...excellent infill choice...it was sad to see the grand ole Bellemont get bulldozed...

 

It sure would be nice to see more Austin TX sized developments come BR's way...that place is Booming at a Ridiculous level!

Edited July 1, 2016 by richyb83

[dan326]

Yes, hopefully they will stand the test of time. This developers other developed have been nice so far though so it should be OK.

[cajun]

I think Top Golf should open up near the old Tinseltown area off Siegen by all of that shopping.    Seems ideal for something that needs high visibility and plenty of space.   Easy access to people from all over the Baton Rouge metro and even New Orleans.

Edited August 5, 2016 by cajun

[richyb83]

With the re-developments along Third Street about to be complete....Commerce Bldg.; 440 @ Third ; & Watermark hotel....wanted to Summarize some new projects underway or about to start or in question?

Need to try and get some pics when i finally get the chance...left renderings out  bec of length of post

*Onyx Residences ....5 floors...nearing completion? Third at Convention St.

*Belvedere Condominiums....under construction...luxury condo's on narrow parcel next to 525 Lafayette; completing IBM Block

* The Lofts @ 6 C .....6 stories....Sixth Street & Florida..... did it break ground last month ??

*Beauregard Quarters....(Napolean St @ America St.) broke ground??  Should have started by now

*Courtyard by Marriott ....8  stories/147 rooms...Third St. @ Florida St....just broke ground

*5 story lofts on Laurel St @ Fifth Street???  

* Demolition of old library at North Blvd. Town Square a few weeks ago...New Library coming soon...

 

*Water Campus....2nd building office bldg about to start?? & the 3rd Bldg. at Municipal Dock overlooking the river

*River House....Nicholson Drive .....as mentioned before..going up quickly finally

*Park 7...6-stories near Southgate @ LSU...construction just started.....with a name like that should have been 7 floors

 

*Children's Knock Knock Museum...under construction at City Park

*Tapestry Park....Jefferson Hwy (near Bocage behind Panera Bread) ...4 stories/124 units...have they finally started??

 

 

 

[richyb83]

 

Pardon double post...tried to make correction  on 1st post..aggravating set up on UP here sometimes

4 hours ago, richyb83 said:

With the re-developments along Third Street about to be complete....Commerce Bldg.; 440 @ Third ; & Watermark hotel....wanted to Summarize some new projects underway or about to start or in question?

Need to try and get some pics when i finally get the chance...left renderings out  bec of length of post

*Onyx Residences ....5 floors...nearing completion? Third at Convention St.

*Belvedere Condominiums....under construction...luxury condo's on narrow parcel next to 525 Lafayette; completing IBM Block

* The Lofts @ 6 C .....6 stories....Sixth Street & Florida..... did it break ground last month ??

*Beauregard Quarters....(Napolean St @ America St.) 4-stories/25 units ....broke ground??  Should have started by now

*Courtyard by Marriott ....8  stories/147 rooms...Third St. @ Florida St....just broke ground

*5 story lofts on Laurel St @ Fifth Street???  

* Demolition of old library at North Blvd. Town Square a few weeks ago...New Library coming soon...

 

*Water Campus....2nd building office bldg about to start?? & the 3rd Bldg. at Municipal Dock overlooking the river

*River House....Nicholson Drive .....as mentioned before..going up quickly finally

*Park 7...6-stories near Southgate @ LSU...construction just started.....with a name like that should have been 7 floors

 

*Children's Knock Knock Museum...under construction at City Park

*Tapestry Park....Jefferson Hwy (near Bocage behind Panera Bread) ...4 stories/124 units...have they finally started??

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2016 by richyb83

[dan326]

The Marriott Courtyard literally broke ground, I drove by the site the other day and the pavement was all busted up. I'm definitely excited to see this go up.

[richyb83]

Sounds interesting..."campus" style office/commercial complex...3-story building fronting Highland Road; guessing the back edge of the development will border the Bluebonnet Swamp ...Finally something different for that area....Seems like BR is suburban garden office capital of the U.S.

 

Ground to break next Wednesday on @Highland tech office park

Ground will be broken next week on the planned @Highland tech office park, a campus-style office and commercial complex modeled after the campuses of high-tech giants like Apple and Microsoft and that will be located at the intersection of Highland Road and Bluebonnet Boulevard.

According to an invitation for the event, the groundbreaking ceremony is from 8-10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the corner of Bluebonnet and Highland, adjacent to the Bluebonnet Swamp.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be preceded by a breakfast and introduction to GISMO technology.

The @Highland campus, which is located on an 8.5-acre tract of land, is the future home of local IT company General Informatics. A group of investors, led by General Informatics founder Mo Vij, acquired the property in July 2015 for $3.6 million.

The complex will include a 45,000-square-foot, three-story office building that will front Highland Road. Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate will market the lots and the building development for the @Highland tech office park.

https://www.businessreport.com/article/ground-break-next-wednesday-highland-tech-office-park

[Antrell Williams]

It should fit well there, too bad it didn't go downtown.

[richyb83]

On 10/13/2016 at 9:27 PM, Antrell Williams said:

It should fit well there, too bad it didn't go downtown.

True...it would be nice to have found a downtown block/surface parking lot to build on....however  places like Austin TX  are loaded with this type of campus-style development on the northern side of the city....

Interesting that this will have glass & steel....(and not suburban garden office stucco/wood) ....also a residential component....glad to see they are preserving all of the wetlands at Bluebonnet Swamp...interesting to see how it will all be intertwined at the edge of the development

 

General Informatics breaks ground on new high-end office park, unveils new technology

https://www.businessreport.com/article/general-infomatics-breaks-ground-new-high-end-office-park-unveils-new-technology

Edited October 24, 2016 by richyb83

[cajun]

http://www.athighland.com/

 

Renderings here.  Looks pretty cool.  I suspect they'll find other tenants fairly quickly.   Looks like they are putting a lot of effort into the design. 

These are actually so common that I was surprised IBM didn't go this route when they invested in Baton Rouge.   Major tech and/or blue chip companies like Google, Facebook, General Motors, FedEx, and even ExxonMobile have beautiful suburban campuses to house their tech and engineering teams.

Supposedly the outlying campuses have a more comfortable and casual works pace that younger people appreciate than the more stuffy corporate HQ's offer.    I also suspect that it would be very difficult, time consuming, and expensive to buy and rennovate existing buildings in a downtown setting to build a "campus".   Some companies do that (XTO Energy in Fort Worth stands out), but tech companies tend to prefer the more contemporary campuses with very open floor plans.

Edited October 24, 2016 by cajun

[richyb83]

Thanks cajun...looks impressive with all of the glass & steel...It should look nice at that location.  On the last (5th) frame...there is a building 5-floors...wonder if that's the residential?  And how many years will these Phases take to complete?

At Towne Center office park (back of Commerce Circle/next to Residence Inn) there is a cool(small) 2-story looking glass/steel/stone office building...there is plenty open space nearby along Corporate Blvd corridor  could use a few of these...maybe 7-stories

 

BTW....That's a cool old high-rise in downtown Fort Worth for XTO Energy HQ's

[cajun]

I'd like to see something like it at the old Woman's site....if they ever got around to demolishing it.

[dan326]

Neat building, hopefully there'll be plenty of landscaping.

On another note, how much longer do y'allthink our current way of retail will last (in the US)? I went inside the Mall of Louisiana for the first time in a long time and was disturbed by the number urban ware stores, under construction barriers and even a fake storefront à la Cortana that I saw. I know brick and mortar is struggling but is this normal or is BR just not a particularly strong market?

Also, don't tease me too much but I wish they could open up Cortana like Hammond Square or the Pearland, TX mall. Maybe raze the old Mervyn's and Macy's and replace it with a multistory office and add some restaurants to increase traffic. Idk, it just seems like there's so much yet so little they could do with it.

Edited October 24, 2016 by dan326

[cajun]

Oil prices need to come up.  The whole gulf coast area is struggling a bit.  

 

As far as Cortana....I think the best use of the property is to maintain the big box stores and "local-oriented" retail on the periphery of the property, then redevelop the actual mall with several streets of distribution centers and flex space (which can be used for distribution, call centers, light manufacturing, machine shops, and even tech centers).   Something like Industrialplex in Baton Rouge or Citrus Blvd in Metarie, with retail flanking flex space and distribution-oriented businesses.  The empty parcels on Oak Villa and on Tom Drive next to the Cortana property are already being developed like that.

Unfortunately I don't see much of a reason to keep the building around.   That area will always have traffic with the outparcels developed as retail....but it being on the corner of two major highways, the best use for the actual property the mall is on is flex space and distribution.    Indoor malls are really not built anymore, and cities the size of Baton Rouge usually only have one viable indoor mall these days - and that's the Mall of Louisiana.

I do think the property needs major investment ASAP.   It's unfortunate but the format needs to change completely.  

Edited October 24, 2016 by cajun

[dan326]

Oh ok.

^Even though that's a truthful and logical idea I still think it's ->

[dan326]

Second major mixed-use development announced for Bluebonnet and Highland intersection

 

Developer Kevin Nguyen has begun site work on a 100,000-square-foot mixed-use development planned for the intersection of Bluebonnet Boulevard and Highland Road.

The retail and office complex—which Nguyen likens to Towne Center on Corporate Boulevard—will be called City Square. It will be located on 13 acres of undeveloped property Nguyen owns on the south side of Highland where it intersects with Bluebonnet.

Plans call for a total of 75,000 square feet of retail space and 25,000 square feet of office space.

https://www.businessreport.com/article/second-major-mixed-use-development-announced-bluebonnet-highland-intersection

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by dan326

[richyb83]

That intersection will be transformed with the Tech Park & Shopping Center...problem with traffic historic Highland Road is going to stay a 2-laned road

 

Edited November 23, 2016 by richyb83

[Antrell Williams]

Four lanes wouldn't even help in peak hours, I think it should be widened with vegetation and a bike/walking path.