Baton Rouge Growth and Development

[richyb83]

The Belle of BR parking deck will now be 9-levels. Wonder why they want to make the boat perpendicular to the levee instead??

The new R.R. underpass would be a great idea and proof something major will be developed there. 800-1,200 units sure is alot; and office space of 300,000sq.ft. to 600,000sq.ft. is equally impressive. This won't be done overnight obviously. I'm not going to hold my breath on all of this. Given the large scale of the development, it will be done in phases.

I do see a hotel eventually with Hollywood Casino especially sinced they purchased the additional 4-acres for future expansion; Anything else would be lagniappe to me. I hope it happens, that would be a really nice redevelopment and serious upgrade for that area of the riverfront compared to limestone/gravel pits that just left to WBR.

Hopefully Pinnacle will never happen; I was disapointed about a month or so back Holden was in "favor" of Pinnacle for the tax/revenue it will bring the parish. At that proposed site I think it gets voted down 2 to 1 by the residents.

Edited March 14, 2007 by richyb83

[richyb83]

Funding for downtown pocket park secured on Convention Street/Seventh Street

WWI-era Victory Park was donated to the Federal Courthouse back in 1992. In return they will get this property. The vacant Postal Office Carrier Annex will be demolished to make way for the park.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/6490082.html

*Major reconfiguration construction has began for the intersection of Sherwood Forest Blvd. at So. Harrel's Ferry Road at the I-12 off-ramp. Need to see a site plan.

[dan326]

Super Saver on Florida to be razed. Yes! I would hope this would happen, it's always so depressing to see big boxs and car dealerships all boarded up.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/6502237.html

Also, more development for Towne Center and other deals.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/6502227.html

[richyb83]

^^ I don't think it's the Super Saver on Florida; it's the one on Greenwell Springs. It will be re-used as a medical supply company that almost went to Houston. This is good news. I hope all the decline of the east side of Florida Blvd. will find uses. You are right, it's depressing to see all those big boxes sitting there.

All the Delchamps have or will be reused and that's good to see. Highland @ Lee Drive will be a new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Grocery; Jones Creek Rd. @ Tiger Bend will be a Ralph's SuperMarket; and Millerville @ Old Hammond Hwy. is already a nice climate-controlled storage center.

The developer of Perkins Rowe also developed CitiPlace. He plans to build a 135-unit loft apartment complex at CitiPlace on the last 11 acres of the 70 acre site. I am wondering if this is going to be on the north-side of Corporate Blvd? I thought this was going on a smaller tract of land in front of the Gates at CitiPlace?? He did not provide specifics.

He also mentioned JTS Interest has"some amazing plans" for the Ford Pasture on Perkins Road not far from College Drive. Previously he has said it would be a mixed-use combing single family homes, townhouses, offices, and light retail, and possibly a Southdowns branch library. It's nice to see all the mixed-used developments arriving in BR.

I am curious to see the style of architecture for the offices will be going to next phase for the Towne Center business park??

[byrde]

The Supersaver that's being razed is the one that was down in Gonzales. The Greenwell Springs/Oak Villa store will be the distribution center Richy mentioned above. I thought JTS was going to build another hotel at Citiplace on that plot of land in front of the Gates @ Citiplace. Does JTS own any of the property north of Corporate?

[richyb83]

^^ Thats the million-dollar question Byrde-Man?? I don't think there is 11 acres left to develop south of Corporate Blvd. Months back I had seen site plans for some 4-story residential lofts on a couple arcre tract in front of Gates at CitiPlace.

[fla_tiger]

I read somewhere that the Florida Boulevard corridor is now being considered for design specifics to signs and landscaping similar to those being done in the Mid-City/Government Street area. I feel this is a positive start. It is disturbing to see this vital corridor slip into decline, especially with the high traffic volumes the street still carries.

We grew up with Florida as the major player in its heyday. The area has some amazing buildings with styles unique to that area. I will post some photos as soon as I download from my digital and copy them to Photobucket.

Now my PS rant>

Why did DOT/City remove the lush landscaping in the medians along Florida between Airline and Foster only to let the weeds take over?

Wasn't the unattractive Orange barricades at Sherwood @ Florida suppose to be a six month trial to see if they were effective and then be replaced with permanent medians? This was 2 years ago and they are still there.

Sometimes I think the DOT/City encourages decline with their stupid decisions!

[richyb83]

^^Always good to see you in the BR Forum flatiger You always make good points or have good info. Looking forward to seeing your photos, thanks. Hopefully BR will be active again real soon in skyscraperpage with the projects finally lined-up; Katrina really screwed $construction cost skyrocketing. And it's only going to go up; it was already bad with steel that China has been hording. Otherwise RiverPlace would have been more than 1/2 way up; the Courthouse and IICity Plaza would have broke ground by now. But they are coming, 07' is an exciting year.

There had been complaints with some of the lush landscape being a hazard along Florida Blvd. blocking vision of traffic trying to make turns. But I agree that allowing weeds to grow are not acceptable. That area of the Florida Blvd. corridor has really come along nicely with major revitalization of Bonne Carre/La.Tech Park(old Bon Marche Mall); new BREC HQ's(old Sears bldg.); and the ever expanding BRCC has prompted more growth like the nice new Home Smart Kornmeyers Furniture that decided to stay instead of moving to Siegen.

^^Good question about the orange barracades flatiger. I need to find this out. While inner-city/Mid-city Florida Blvd. is making positive strides; the area further out is in decline like you said. My Dad grew up in NBR and said Florida Blvd. would become another Plank Road one day. It's hard to argue, but hopefully they can find uses for some of the vacant big-boxes and car-dealerships.

Third Street had it's heyday then Plank Rd.; then Florida Blvd; now Coursey, Bluebonnet, Siegen, Perkins are exploding onto the scene. Corporate Blvd is quickly filing up. The new Towne Center infil has been exceeding expectations.; it's prompting more growth in the vicinity.

[dan326]

Well, just think, with projects like Town Center the inner city is starting to become revitalized.

I went downtown with my dad today and we walked all the way from the RiverCenter to Capital Park and back and through that little walk I realized that downtown B.R. really does have some cool little places and a lot of potential, if some developers would do some stuff with it. In fact one of the things that has me the most upset is that the city is going through a historic hotel boom and downtown is only getting one out of it. What would be neat though was if a developer bought a whole block and turned it into a downtown Perkins Rowe.

Also I saw the Belisle building which is really neat, the old Gordon's Bldg is being stuccoed a beige color(would have liked to see something different, maybe some more brick), saw the River Place Hospitality building with a huge blueprint inside, and got a big ice cream cone from the Capital Creamery.

Edited March 19, 2007 by dan326

[richyb83]

^^That's cool you got to hang out downtown with your parents Dan. Were you able to take some pics?? You are right, there are some really neat places downtown. If I won the Powerball Lotto(which I don't even play); I would like to develop/invest in something downtown.

I would consider the Hilton Capitol Center as a hotel in the "boom"; along with the King Hotel would make two. And maybe a casino hotel at Hollywood?? It would be nice to get a Hyatt, Westin, or Crowne Plaza...I guess I can always dream. I agree with you; It's ashame downtown is not BR's largest hotel district. That title would go to the College Drive/I-10/Corporate area as you already know. You can thank the Hilton(now Mariott) for starting that ball rolling back in the 70's.

Thanks for the updates too. How was the ice cream??

[dan326]

The smallest city I can think of with a Hyatt is Lexington, and so maybe there is a chance. Also judging by other cities Westin seems to be in an expnasion phase so..

Hey Richy,isn't Renaissance a really nice hotel? Just wondering.

The ice cream was great, it was cookies-n-cream in a waffle cone. At first I thougt the cone would be hard, but then I learned it was actually pretty good.

I know this is definetely a super dream for B.R., but it would be extremely neat if they could do something like this or even a scaled down version.

Project City Center in Las Vegas

Edited March 19, 2007 by dan326

[byrde]

Hey Richy,isn't Renaissance a really nice hotel? Just wondering.

The Renaissance Hotels are very nice. They are a part of the Marriott family.

[richyb83]

^^Thanks Bryde. True

They do have scaled down versions like that going on in Orlando and a proposed one in Buckhead in Atlanta.

And more entertainment oriented versions are Victory Park/Plaza in Dallas and the Pavillions in Houston.

A good start for BR would be along the riverfront block thats a giant parking lot owned by Hartley & Vey. It,s the block north of the Hilton; south of RiverPlace (borders are Florida, River Rd, Laurel, Lafayette ).

The mixed-use development for the old Advocate site should be really nice too. Can't wait to see some renderings.

Edited March 19, 2007 by richyb83

[richyb83]

Yesterday I got some news from a very reliable source pertaining to the old Advocate site downtown on Lafayette Street. The preliminary talks were to have a 25 to 30-story mixed-use tower; that has now changed. Plans are now for two separate structures within the block with a central-plaza area between both. One would contain office, the other condo's. With plenty for street level and the term "sense of place". They would be anywhere from 12-(not more than 15) stories. They would be very nice. At that location not wanting to block views of the Capitol; which I agreed at that location. This will be a Major UPGRADE for the prime riverfront location. For now I'll call it Capital Park Plaza.

What I did not agree with was....I told him that the new development would really compliment RiverPlace at the next block. He said he wished it wasn't so tall. 100 units he said; actually RiverPlace is 119-units.

I said city's like Austin, Mobile are building thier tallest...he said that's an "ego thing". Do any of YALL agree?? This sounds alot like the New Urbanist theory. He stated Washington DC as an example with everything(buildings) leveled off and uniform except the Washington Monument. He also said Portland Oregon now realizes it's 4 biggest mistakes(I'm guessing he meant 4 tallest buildings in the city) ....this deserves to be a Forum Topic for Louisiana or maybe more??

[dan326]

Plans are now for two separate structures within the block with a central-plaza area between both. One would contain office, the other condo's. With plenty for street level and the term "sense of place". They would be anywhere from 12-(not more than 15) stories.

I like this plan a little better. I think really tall buildings should be farther back from the river, so they don't block stuff behind, of course that doesn't mean I don't want RiverPlace to happen.

Actually visualizing the finished project reminds me of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo.

I said city's like Austin, Mobile are building thier tallest...he said that's an "ego thing". Do any of YALL agree?? This sounds alot like the New Urbanist theory. He stated Washington DC as an example with everything(buildings) leveled off and uniform except the Washington Monument.

It is kind of an ego thing, but I like highrise not to say "My city's tallest is x feet " but because I truely think they are an interesting piece of architecture. Whenever I go to other cities, I thikn the most exciting part is seeing it's skyline (and the theme parks ).

Edited March 20, 2007 by dan326

[dan326]

Mall of Louisiana starts construction of open-air center

Work has started on The Boulevard, the Mall of Louisiana's new open-air shopping center. Several rows of parking by the mall's back entrance have been blocked off. A sign in the mall says the project should be open by March 2008. Mall officials say they'll hold a press conference in May to talk about the expansion and announce new tenants, both in the mall and in the open-air center. The Boulevard will add 177,000 square feet of retail space, including a bookstore and up to seven restaurants. So far, the only tenant announced for the center is Sharper Image.

[dan326]

Yesterday my dad and took a long drive to Gonzales down I-10 and back to B.R. up Airline Highway. I saw lots of stuuf.

• The parking lot will be the first thing finished at the Boulevard. It already has some markers on the site.
  
• Hampton Inn, Chucky Cheese, and that residential development have started construction on Siegen.
  
• Cabela's, Tanger Mall Expansion, and a shopping center across the interstate from Cabela's has started construction
  
• A large Storage Center is being built in front of Industriplex
  
• Also Perkins Rowe is coming along very nicely. Even though the tallest building is 7 stories, when they are all the same average height like that it gives the development a feeling of emenceniss.
  

Edited March 27, 2007 by dan326

[richyb83]

Thanks Dan for the update. There is alot of development going on everywhere in Baton Rouge. The 1st Phase of Perkins Rowe is plenty big; can't wait to see what Phase II will look like!

The Celtic Media Centre has been started. The first building/studio seems to be coming along nicely.

[dan326]

700 units of multifamily housing, mini-warehouse units, a YMCA branch, and retail coming to Howell Place.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/6739657.html

Edited March 29, 2007 by dan326

[richyb83]

Howell Place will become a massive mixed-use development before all is said and done.

[byrde]

Howell Place will become a massive mixed-use development before all is said and done.

It is long over due for N. BR.

[richyb83]

Yes it is! NBR is definetly underserved! And what better location to develop than the large chunks of land adjacent to the airport. I am glad BR has a visionary developer like Richard Preis. Howell Place has exceeded expectations and skeptics alike; and the 30-story RiverPlace condominium tower set to finally start is the " icing" on the cake! Other southern cities will take notice.

Edited March 29, 2007 by richyb83

[byrde]

Pennington seeks expansion money from the state

Pennington director: Expansion is key

BR biomedical center seeks state construction funds

By JORDAN BLUM

Advocate Capitol News Bureau

Published: Apr 1, 2007

Claude Bouchard has a blunt message about the future of Pennington Biomedical Research Center if it doesn

[richyb83]

Thanks for posting this Byrde. Actually I was going to start a new thread on this important development. This is vitally important...Not only for Baton Rouge, but the ENTIRE STATE! Stinkin Blank-o needs to wake-up! If this were in Lafayette and associated with UL of Lafayette this wouldn't be in question. It's ashame a progressive place like No.Carolina would love to have Pennington! BRAC-Stephen Moret is pleding for this...this is long term!

Some of have suggested that the "next" Governor get to decide what to do with the state's $urplu$. Not bLANK-o

Edited April 1, 2007 by richyb83

[brresident]

Thanks for posting this Byrde. Actually I was going to start a new thread on this important development. This is vitally important...Not only for Baton Rouge, but the ENTIRE STATE! Stinkin Blank-o needs to wake-up! If this were in Lafayette and associated with UL of Lafayette this wouldn't be in question. It's ashame a progressive place like No.Carolina would love to have Pennington! BRAC-Stephen Moret is pleding for this...this is long term!

Some of have suggested that the "next" Governor get to decide what to do with the state's $urplu$. Not bLANK-o

Why, funding a growing institution promising thousands of jobs over the next 10 years when there is a huge surplus is just not the populist thing to do!

Don't hold your breath. Louisiana still has way to many old school nut jobs in the govenor's office and the legislator to actually get anything like this done. Way too much money for pet projects to help one or two families in tiny parishes to afford something actually valuable to Louisiana.

Edited April 2, 2007 by brresident