Baton Rouge Growth and Development

[Antrell Williams]

I've never used 59N (now I-69, weird I know), during rush hour. They were still widening the north loop when I left so maybe that helps 45 because it sometimes caused problems.

[jefften10]

My particular job function is more common in the suburbs when it comes to the Dallas area in particular Plano. It's not to say I couldn't find that job downtown but financially speaking I could get just of good a job in the suburbs and live there also where the cost of living is cheaper. 

Plano is also Corporate capital. You could live in Dallas and actually work in Plano and it would seem normal. The tollway North in the AM is equally as bad as the tollway South.

[cajun]

Anyone know if the construction has started on the neighborhoods planned on Bluebonnet extension? I've been looking around for a site plan for that development going in down there but no luck.

[steve3n8]

Anyone know if the construction has started on the neighborhoods planned on Bluebonnet extension? I've been looking around for a site plan for that development going in down there but no luck.

 

Yes, it started a month or 2 ago. The first phase is called "The Preserve at Harveston".

 

They have a website......http://harvestonbr.com/

 

That's all I know of the development

[itsjustme3]

Anyone know if the construction has started on the neighborhoods planned on Bluebonnet extension? I've been looking around for a site plan for that development going in down there but no luck.

Yes. Started several months ago. Hell, maybe even last December? Started south of Hillmont. Next phase west/north of bluebonnet needs drainage work to begin I believe.

Edited August 1, 2013 by itsjustme3

[cajun]

Kind of also related to Antrell's discussion on restaurants on the west side....

Cody Carroll, owner of the popular New Roads restaurant known as "Hot Tails" will be opening a location in Baton Rouge instead of New Orleans. He claims he'd rather own a local favorite restaurant in Baton Rouge than to serve tourists in New Orleans. His New Roads restaurant is very popular and apparently drew large crowds daily even before the recent publicity.

I applaud this move. You all will as well when you try his place. There is an article coming out in the Business Report on his decision. Expect his new restaurant to start relatively small by Baton Rouge standards....but significantly larger than the New Roads restaurant. I'm guessing he'll go for a location on Perkins or somewhere in south Baton Rouge.

Edited August 7, 2013 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

I wonder what kind of building he will occupy?

[nickels]

There are two lots being leveled right now at Burbank and Bluebonnet. I know one lot is for a walmart (great...) but does anyone have any idea what the other is for?

[steve3n8]

There are two lots being leveled right now at Burbank and Bluebonnet. I know one lot is for a walmart (great...) but does anyone have any idea what the other is for?

 

 

 

I know atleast right now a gas station (Racetrac) is going up across from the planned Walmart.

 

Not sure what else might join it.......

[itsjustme3]

If its the corner lot it's a gas station.

[steve3n8]

Crawfish Aquatics buys land on Siegen

 

 

Crawfish Aquatics, one of the area's premier swim programs, has purchased a 4.77-acre tract of land on Siegen Lane near the intersection of Perkins Road for $1.4 million. In a deal that closed earlier today, Crawfish Aquatics owner Steven Ripple acquired the property from several members of the Watson family, who have owned the undeveloped land for more than 50 years. Ripple could not be reached for comment and no plans have yet been announced for future development of the property, which is located between Capital Golf, which opened earlier this year, and a Regions Bank branch. Crawfish Aquatics was founded in 1999 and offers year-round competitive swimming programs for children, teens and adults. It is currently based at the Ketcham Fitness Center at 7150 Bluebonnet Blvd. Real estate broker Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who represented both buyer and seller in the transaction, says the area is increasingly in demand because of nearby growth and development. "I sold the Blockbuster (now Capital Golf) for $1.17 million, and this piece just sold for $6.95 per square foot," he says. "That shows you that it's an area in demand." —Stephanie Riegel

 

Businessreport.com

Edited August 16, 2013 by steve3n8

[richyb83]

Real Estate Weekly Property of the Week...

Vintala Partners—a venture by developers Stephen Keller and Clay Likover established in 2012—broke ground in July on The District, a 312-unit upscale apartment complex on Perkins Road near Dawson Creek. The development, being built by Block Builders of Baton Rouge, will feature 10 three-story buildings surrounding a three-story garage on nearly 11 acres, as well as a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse and leasing office, and parking for a total of more than 500 vehicles. JHP Architecture & Urban Design of Dallas is the architect. Construction is expected to last 15 months.

http://www.businessreport.com/section/businessreport0113

[cajun]

Looks like a nice building. Is this out along the stretch near Juban's and Bulldog or out toward Pollard Eatstes and Pennington?

Thanks for posting it. Must be pretty dense if they need a parking deck. I imagine anything in that area will be expensive to rent.

[itsjustme3]

Toward Pennington

[cajun]

Toward Pennington

Nice!

I think I know the tract. It's about time something went up there.

[cajun]

A river runs through it

 

Downtown development has kicked into high gear this summer.

 

 

full article: http://www.businessreport.com/8202013/print-issue/StartUp/A_river_runs_through_it

 

Downtown development has kicked into high gear this summer.

 

In August alone, the stage at Galvez Plaza is nearing completion, a new $1.2 million riverfront access greenway project was announced, and an agreement with the city is paving the way for the Downtown Greenway to pass through Expressway Park.

 

Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, says the projects—particularly the riverfront access park—will change the face of downtown Baton Rouge.

 

"It's going to help tremendously to draw people to the river," he says. "It opens up a whole new world of access to our town's greatest asset."

 

 

Edited September 3, 2013 by cajun

[steve3n8]

Site near Marriott, Best Western sells for potential office development

 

 

The Bickham Family recently sold a 47,000-square-foot lot sandwiched between the Marriott and the Best Western hotels on Hilton Avenue to G. Endurance LLC for $590,000, or about $12.55 per square foot. The property fronts on Hilton Avenue at its intersection with Energy Drive, and backs up to Interstate 10. Brent Struthers with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who brokered the transaction, says the new owner will likely construct an office building on the site. The purchaser was represented by attorney Gordon McKernan, a local attorney, who has outgrown his 15,000-square-foot office on Bankers Lane and intends to relocate. The sale of this site comes on the heels of another 2.5-acre tract purchased from the Bickham Family by Mike Wampold across from the Marriott late last year for about $12.40 per square foot. "There are very few well-located lots available for sale in this corridor, and McKernan likes the idea of having an office building visible from I-10," Struthers says.

 

Businessreport.com

[richyb83]

Thanks for posting this Steve

 

An office building visible from I-10 sounds interesting(next to the Marriott)! With the tract being a limited size ...making for a smaller footprint..maybe this could turn out to be at least 4 or 5 floors? Sure would be a nice alternative to the French faux-pas suburban garden offices that are now all over the place.

 

And  what will ever become of the the 2.5 acre tract of land also mentioned; across the street(north) from the Marriott....the hotel market is plenty saturated...not sure if another hotel would be in the works....

[steve3n8]

Thanks for posting this Steve

 

An office building visible from I-10 sounds interesting(next to the Marriott)! With the tract being a limited size ...making for a smaller footprint..maybe this could turn out to be at least 4 or 5 floors? Sure would be a nice alternative to the French faux-pas suburban garden offices that are now all over the place.

 

And  what will ever become of the the 2.5 acre tract of land also mentioned; across the street(north) from the Marriott....the hotel market is plenty saturated...not sure if another hotel would be in the works....

 

Wampold is planning a hotel and restaurant on that 2.5 acre site.

Edited September 11, 2013 by steve3n8

[richyb83]

My bad Steve...I should re-worded that...knew that Wampold had hotel/restaurant in works on the 2.5 acre site...but wonder if this had been put on "Hold"? Since a recent report said the BR Hotel market has become oversaturated.

 

Thanks

[cajun]

As long as it looks cool. I'd really hate to see another 3 to 5 level Xerox building.

I like the Butler Snow building in Madison, MS. Any chance something like that can be squeezed in?

The Marriot hotel is the only skyscraper there.

Edited September 13, 2013 by cajun

[steve3n8]

Cajun building new fabrication facility, office building

 

Cajun Industries is expanding its local operations, with the construction of a new fabrication facility and the planned construction of a new office building—projects that will cost an estimated $6 million each. "We're really in a growth mode right now," says Todd Grigsby, president of Cajun Constructors, one of Cajun Industries' wholly owned subsidiaries. "We have agreements on several major projects right now that we cannot discuss, but there are a lot of opportunities on the horizon." The new fabrication facility will be 45,000 square feet and is already under construction on an industrial site owned by Cajun in Westport, on the Intracoastal Waterway. The facility, which is scheduled to be completed by March 1, will replace Industrial Design & Construction's existing fabrication shop in Prairieville. Cajun acquired the company last October. "They had a small shop they had really outgrown," Grigsby says. "With the amount of work coming up and the opportunities, it was a good time to expand and build a much bigger fabrication shop." Cajun is also planning to build a new, 30,000-square-foot office building that will provide office space for as many as 80 employees. Those workers will come from the former IDC office—which will relocate to Cajun's Airline Highway campus—as well as from other Cajun divisions. Earlier today, the company submitted a site plan for the construction with the city-parish Planning Commission. Once ground is broken on the project, it is expected to take about 10 months to complete. Cajun currently has a backlog of around $250 million, with at least that much potential work in the negotiation phase, Grigsby says. —Stephanie Riegel

 

Businessreport.com

 

 

 

New charter school planned on Burbank

 

Charter Schools USA—a charter operator with 48 schools in five states, including the newly opened Baton Rouge Charter Academy at Mid City—has signed a purchase agreement to acquire a 6.5-acre site on Burbank Avenue near Bluebonnet Boulevard, and plans to build a new school on the property in time for the 2014 school year. Lanny Lewis, who owns the parcel, says the charter operator has the property under contract and must close by Jan. 1. "I think it's going to be a very good project," says Lewis, a real estate developer and property manager. "I like the idea and I like the concept of charter schools, so when they approached us about buying this land, I was happy to make it work." He declines to discuss the purchase price. The property is on the south, or river, side of Burbank at the corner of Parkway Drive, which is just west of Bluebonnet. —Stephanie Riegel

 

Businessreport.com

 

[cajun]

Good to hear that some charters are being built.

Cajun's a great name for a construction company, IMO.

[itsjustme3]

How long before that school is broken into? Even with the cop depot station nearby.

Also, the school will hold over 800 students. It's not a good location traffic wise either.

Edited September 13, 2013 by itsjustme3

[Antrell Williams]

Why do you assume it will be broken into?