River Place Condominiums

[dan326]

I stand corrected.

Actually II City Plaza had been on the drawing boards longer; since the late 90's; taking about 10 years before it ever got off the ground. Had it not been for the new GOZone Bonds post-Katrina; Wampold mave have not even pulled this project off. Even with the GOZone bonds he termed "sticker shock" the reason for the shorter 12-story office tower.

Wampold's has a few projects; 8-story tower on Essen near Shaw; and north Chase Tower expansion; that look like the plans have been "dropped". They have been talked about nearly as long as RiverPlace.

[nquint1]

I listened in to Preis this morning. He said he will announce the flag for the hotel portion of River Place within 60 days. He commented that a condotel has a greater chance of getting built than a condominium does. I'm not sure if this detail is known, but he said the hotel will be 20 floors and the condo will be 10 floors on top of that. He also mentioned that the hotel would be "the first 4 star hotel in downtown BR." Jim asked him if the Hilton was a 4 star and Preis said it was a 3 star. Is that true? I was under the impression that the Hilton was the nicest hotel in Baton Rouge and well above a 3 star.

On the subject of the property in Spanish Town he didn't mention much about it other than it would be a residential project. He made it sound as though he's concentrating on both Howell Place and River Place.

There was nothing new to report on Howell Place. He did say there were many naysayers when he first started working on it and now look how it's doing. That gave me the impression that he won't give up on River Place!

[dan326]

Oh brother, there he goes with that 60 days stuff again. I haven't completely given up, but Ii'll only start to get excited when the building starts to rise.

[richyb83]

Hey!! I got the chance to listen to most of it! I'm stoked! No way can I give up now! Eventhough they didn't say it...The parking garage should count for floors 1-4;...then hotel 5-20; 21-30 condo's. I think a condotel is just what BR needs! And whats so suprising is how patient the people with reservation keys have been after all this time! Was the 350-rooms for the hotel only?? Or the "total"??

RiverPlace will cost roughly $150million! So it's not fair to compare this to other projects like II City Plaza; that's only 1/3 the cost$.

Plan BR has an idea for a skywalk over River Road connecting the 4th floor parking deck to the promenade along the river.

Thanks again nquint1 for the head's up

Yeah I said 60 more days too, we have heard that before....but when all is said and done I predict this thread will have over 400-500 post!

[southeastBR]

Yeah! I just hope in 60 days we get a yea or a nay on the project!

[richyb83]

Hey cajun..nice April Fools on the BR Growth thread......I did not have time to reply earlier; I wasn't fooled ...clicked that website too; but figured you just beat me to the punch this year; I wanted to play one this year abt Perkins Rowe phase II; but was unable to copy construction pic

>>This was my April Fool's from 2 years ago(07') about RiverPlace..it fooled a few people...it was in response to Louisiana Thunder's April Fool pic of downtown BR w/o One American Place!

Here are some new renderings of River Place condominium tower!!! Shorter 3 and 4 story lofts with ground level retail/restaurant will be surrounding River Place.

Great views of sunsets too!!!

APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!

*This is actually the Mercer Condominiums in Houston's Uptown Galleria District; this is a "close" as I can find imitation of River Place; But the 30-story/4 level parking?? River Place should be very close to scale to this. Vertically challenged Baton Rouge could use something like this on the downtown riverfront!

FYI- Houston's 15 Tallest Buildings were built in the 80's & 70's(13 in the 80's); Only one 40-story "office tower" Enron has been built(2002) since then. The days of 60-70+ story office towers in Houston appear to be over. Many 30-story +condo's are in the works. And one 31-story proposed office tower.

[cajun]

Yeah, 130 story tower would scare cajuns like me.

It would have been easier to swallow if I stuck with 50 stories.

[dan326]

Well we all knew this was going to happen, but it's still kind of disappointing.

River Place on hold

"Preis said River Place, which would be at Third and Lafayette streets, remains on hold indefinitely because banks aren’t lending money on terms favorable enough to move forward — the going rate is they’ll loan half the money and want the developer to come up with the other half.

“The loan structure that they’re offering is just too conservative at this time,” Preis said, noting he has no idea when banks are going to get more aggressive."

2theadvocate.com/news/business/61602307.html

[richyb83]

Yep...no suprises there(as this topic falls deeper into the abyss of BR Forum threads)...I considered it on "hold" anyway...many projects now are on hold til these Central Banks get something done...LaVie, The Grove, River Park, Acadian Village, Arlington Creek, Phase II of Perkins Rowe, Commerce Bldg, etc...

I will always commend Richard Pries for his vision his high-rise living along the river...if it was so EASY...Why don't you see other developers proposing the same?? Going vertical like that ain't cheap + some locals cannot seem to grasp the concept of a vertical-neighborhood. This recession even has places like Miami & Austin feeling the pinch

Can you just imagine(dream) all the projects along the downtown riverfront coming together; falling like domino's....one dependant on "each-other" to work..creating a synergy...walking from the mixed-use(Perkins Rowe-like) River Park down to Alive!(Hollywood Casino wedged in between)...take the sky-bridge over River Road to the Capitol Visitors Center; to the old Advocate site and River Place....kind of like a ALL or NOTHING deal...

[cajun]

Well we all knew this was going to happen, but it's still kind of disappointing.

River Place on hold

"Preis said River Place, which would be at Third and Lafayette streets, remains on hold indefinitely because banks aren’t lending money on terms favorable enough to move forward — the going rate is they’ll loan half the money and want the developer to come up with the other half.

“The loan structure that they’re offering is just too conservative at this time,” Preis said, noting he has no idea when banks are going to get more aggressive."

2theadvocate.com/news/business/61602307.html

Don't worry. The economy won't be in the tank forever, and that riverfront property certainly won't be vacant forever....though at this point, I think it's safe to say that massive new skyscrapers are pretty unlikely for at least a few years.

[dinner roll]

The Third St. Hospitality Center is gone. All signs removed, all furniture moved out. The space is now vacant.

[richyb83]

Just moving to office to Mid-City to save $5000 rent...but the Third Street office was cool!

RiverPlace moves downtown office

The downtown sales and marketing office for the RiverPlace development has closed and moved to Mid City. Richard Preis, who is developing the high-rise condominium tower on the Mississippi River, says he's still working on the project. "We're trying to save expenses," Preis says. "We're not going away." By shutting down the sales and marketing office at the corner of Third and Laurel streets, Preis says he's saving $5,000 a month in rent. The same number of sales and marketing employees are working out of the Kenwood Avenue office. Preis says RiverPlace has been hurt by Hurricane Katrina, which drove up construction costs, and the credit freeze, which has made it difficult to get financing for the $150 million project.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/dai...09/oct/06/1226/

[Antrell Williams]

The sign is still on Lafayette St. Is there any home for Riverplace anymore?

[richyb83]

That's the $million dollar question! Yeah that sign seems like it's been there forever; figured they could have at least updated the pic with the new design?? The proposed Hampton Inn(property also owned by Preis) across the street kinda threw me for a curveball...esp. hearing how RiverPlace was supposed to become a "Condotel" instead...

Some people always believed this project was a pipe-dream...I have always tried to remain optimistic about RiverPlace despite the pessimism...

[Antrell Williams]

I thought that was the latest design. Oh well then.. 10 more years for another failed tower in BR.

[drew6974]

I haven't been on here lately. Sorry if it's been posted already but I passed by the lot where the River Place Condos were supposed to be and there's now a for sale sign on the lot. I guess this is the official end.

[buckett5425]

I haven't been on here lately. Sorry if it's been posted already but I passed by the lot where the River Place Condos were supposed to be and there's now a for sale sign on the lot. I guess this is the official end.

I saw the sign too, but forgot to post the news on here. :/

[steve3n8]

I haven't been on here lately. Sorry if it's been posted already but I passed by the lot where the River Place Condos were supposed to be and there's now a for sale sign on the lot. I guess this is the official end.

That's weird??? They said they were planning to build it when the financial market loosens up....I hope its not the end though, we need some skyscrapers and height to our skyline!

[dan326]

Waaah! :'( I tell ya we don't get any towers unless it's government built.

[itsjustme3]

Waaah! :'( I tell ya we don't get any towers unless it's government built.

There has to be a reason for people to want live down there.

There isn't.

[buckett5425]

There has to be a reason for people to want live down there.

There isn't.

Says who? You?

[Antrell Williams]

It's always just him.

[buckett5425]

Personally, I want to live downtown, but there aren't any affordable options for college students. I have to live in spanish town because its the closest area baton rouge has, that is urban, walkable and its still very suburban. If there were plenty of affordable options downtown, and an efficient form of mass transit to LSU, I know for a fact all of my friends would live downtown. There is a huge demand, but until the city provides for efficient mass transit, downtown will never live up to its potential. Thats a fact.

[itsjustme3]

Says who? You?

Well, for starters the lack of people living there and the lack of developers building homes there. Good grief. You act as if I just insulted your family member.

[richyb83]

II City Plaza is not governmental...but I know what you mean Dan...they do make-up 1/2 the BR Skyline.

There was a demand for BR's 1st Vertical neighborhood(a foriegn term in these parts)along the riverfront before this real estate bubble/Katrina. Some city-council members wanted to know why they wanted to "build so tall" in this overgrown country town??...but the developer got too fancy after the opting from the original tower; instead going for the home-run w/ two towers(27 & 17 stories)...then scrapped the idea in favor of a landmark residential 36-story tower...even Skip Bertman & Shaq were rumored to be interested...that all fell thru with the latest "Condo-tel"...

But when Pries recently announced the Hampton Inn would be built across the street the longshot tower became even more doubtful

There was enough demand for the proposed 6-stroy 131-unit Capitol Lofts...but it was shot down by Spanish Town Civic ASSociation...a major blow to bringing critical mass to the downtown core that would bring the essential services with it...still irks me!

Had the developer just decided on this(shown below) original design....it might have worked...while I agree some more 8-12 story mid-rises could bulk-up the malnutritioned skyline more... a new 2nd Tallest Tower would be really be ideal! Guess there is nothing wrong with your new 2nd tallest being condo's; Austin's Tallest is a condo...

I would have settled for this original plan had I known the proposed 30+ story tower would have been scrapped...