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Towne Center


richyb83

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Probably on the narrow tract of land that has been cleared; just west of the Enclave and CAMD bldg.

Awesome. I saw that for my Mardi Gras visit to town.

5 floors....I hope they have elevators. That place is going to be big.

I really like the look of that new building in town center.

I agree, the glass and stone look great.

It's nice to see this investment into the mid city area...all that's missing is a solid office tower or two and maybe this can start looking like Dunwoody in Atlanta. Between the landscaping, setbacks, and the attractive construction, I'm very impressed with this area. How do we get the city/parish to install some landscaping in the Corporate Blvd median now? That could look very nice. I'm thinking palm trees.

Edited by cajun
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The Corporate Blvd corridor has so much potential to have that "uptown" feel to it....filling in the spaces between Esplanade entertainment complex/Corporate Square/CitiPlace down to Towne Center! I would like to see some more mid-rise office buildings(5-11 stories); however the new Towne Center business park will probably not have anything taller than 5 or 6 floors(which is OK). Like cajun said, this corridor could use some Crescent condo-type development or even a Southgate Tower type project!!

Also my idea for an urban-village(full of Palm Treez) at the Gustav-mulch factory north of CitiPlace(see my Armchair Developer POST;pg #2) would be nice IMO. That's a crucial infil area in the middle of BR; it really nees to be done right! However.... leave plenty of green-space at the rural-oasis Cedar Lodge horse ranch.

Edited by richyb83
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  • 3 years later...

Been too long since this thread has been posted on.....Uptown East...jk

Seems like a narrow tract of land(between CAMD & Towne Center) for a Performing Arts Center; but interesting location nonetheless. A single entrance will not work; tieing into the Towne Center would be a must! A traditional neighborhood development??

BR performing arts center proposed

Bethany World Prayer Center is looking to build a performing arts center on Jefferson Highway next to Towne Center, holding Wednesday and Sunday services there, but also making the 1,050-seat facility available to the public.

Hank Henagan, Bethany’s marketplace ministry pastor, said the church has had its eye on the area around the Whole Foods-anchored center — known as a traditional neighborhood development — as a booming area popular with younger residents.

“We know a lot of young people are moving into Old Goodwood and taking the homes with character there,” he said. “Towne Center is the cool place to go, so to speak, for a lot of upscale, young professionals … and we would like to have a presence there.”

Revising the site’s plan — it was last approved by the city-parish Planning Commission to be a credit union — could meet with opposition when it goes before the commission Monday. Henagan said Bethany is still working with the Goodwood Civic Association, which has concerns about traffic on the residential streets across Jefferson. He said the church is also trying to get approval to open into Towne Center, which he said would be a benefit to all. “If there’s one way in and one way out … we don’t want the parishioners sitting in the parking lot for a half an hour,” he said.

The building — a single story with an upper balcony — would seat 1,050 people. It would be available for groups within the community to use, for example, a music school or teacher putting on a recital, a neighborhood association holding a meeting or even Whole Foods having a gathering of employees.

Henagan said the site between Towne Center and the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices has 200 feet of frontage on Jefferson and goes back about a thousand feet. If the commission grants the site revision, Bethany will execute a purchase agreement it has with Iberiabank.

http://theadvocate.com/news/2861303-123/br-performing-arts-center-proposed

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Not complaining about this being built....I encourage this sort of thing.

Is there a need for this? Is the current River Center performance hall not adequate? Other than being hideous on the outside, it never appeared to need more than cosmetic work on the interior. The acoustics are great. The seats are fairly comfortable. It is within walking distance to 3rd street and lots of parking.

If the market is demanding this space, then why can't River Center management answer to that?

BTW.....Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra is better than most in comparable sized cities. If you haven't been, try it before the conductor transfers.

Edited by cajun
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Not complaining about this being built....I encourage this sort of thing.

Is there a need for this? Is the current River Center performance hall not adequate? Other than being hideous on the outside, it never appeared to need more than cosmetic work on the interior. The acoustics are great. The seats are fairly comfortable. It is within walking distance to 3rd street and lots of parking.

If the market is demanding this space, then why can't River Center management answer to that?

BTW.....Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra is better than most in comparable sized cities. If you haven't been, try it before the conductor transfers.

I doubt their desire for this new space is market driven. Im sure its more divinely inspired, by their ever increasing need to grow their influence and congregation and all for the reason of increasing their tithe is what actually is driving this decision. Its' Gods work.

"In the New World, religion is free enterprise, rival groups set up shop on every street corner, competing to save people souls, and collect their money."

-Richard Dawkins

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I doubt their desire for this new space is market driven. Im sure its more divinely inspired, by their ever increasing need to grow their influence and congregation and all for the reason of increasing their tithe is what actually is driving this decision. Its' Gods work.

Ding ding ding! Hardly a market driven development.

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I doubt their desire for this new space is market driven. Im sure its more divinely inspired, by their ever increasing need to grow their influence and congregation and all for the reason of increasing their tithe is what actually is driving this decision. Its' Gods work.

I was afraid of that....just didnt want to come out and say it.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Sorry this silly site screws up sometimes...article printed toooo smalll...The poster Being Stupid is always entertaining with his comments below...

Bethany' proposal defered

The commission was advised to defer Bethany because of a last-minute filing of engineering documents during the meeting.

Bethany had been seeking approval for the 1,050-seat church with a rear and front entrance, but found out the back entrance through an agreement with State Farm would not be possible. Commission chairwoman Tara Wicker told the commission the new plans passed out at the meeting showing only a single entrance were submitted too late for the commission to consider.

Church spokesman Hank Henagan said Bethany still maintains a single entrance won’t cause traffic problems on Jefferson, which is the main concern of the numerous residents who have twice turned out to oppose the rezoning request. Bethany will have to take up its revised plans at the Planning Commission meeting on July 16.

Bethany had initially described the facility as a performing arts center that would have services twice a week, but then told the commission last month that most of the use of the church would be on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. Henagan told the commission Bethany has met with the Department of Transportation and Development and was told the church would not impact traffic because its services are only on Wednesday night and Sunday morning.

http://theadvocate.c...ch-on-jefferson

Edited by richyb83
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Sounds like another Lakewood Church, but smaller.

To people not from Houston....that's Joel Osteen's mega-church that is in a former Basketball arena on very prime real estate. Unlike Jimmy Swaggert, he hasn't been caught with hookers.

Edited by cajun
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So they want a huge church/community center with ONE entrance? Ugh. Hope this doesn't get approved.

Don't worry, they will ask for a traffic light and likely get one.

If not, they'll have a cop out their stopping traffic on Jefferson to let the Holy Rollers out of the parking lot.

You have a good point. Peak traffic for a church center like that resembles the traffic generated by an arena or a stadium.

Edited by cajun
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The state is very strict now in the number of curb cuts (entrances) allowed into a development. If it's a state highway they will generally only allow one curb cut. They are in fact so strict, that in a project I am working on, on college drive, they state wanted to close all existing entrances to the street and require patrons to enter from a servitude through another parking lot. We had to request an agreement and only one of the existing entrances is being closed. Jefferson is a state highway, correct?

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The state is very strict now in the number of curb cuts (entrances) allowed into a development. If it's a state highway they will generally only allow one curb cut. They are in fact so strict, that in a project I am working on, on college drive, they state wanted to close all existing entrances to the street and require patrons to enter from a servitude through another parking lot. We had to request an agreement and only one of the existing entrances is being closed. Jefferson is a state highway, correct?

College isn't a state highway though..

Jefferson Hwy is LA 73, so yes.

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College isn't a state highway though..

The state gave me plenty of grief over two commercial buildings that I put up on a parish road in 2006. That was in a suburban/rural area though.

Edited by cajun
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College isn't a state highway though..

Jefferson Hwy is LA 73, so yes.

You are correct, my mistake.

The state prefers to only allow on entrance to any new development.

The city DPW has the power to remove an existing entrance if a building receives an additional or substantial remodel and a building permit is required.

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You are correct, my mistake.

The state prefers to only allow on entrance to any new development.

The city DPW has the power to remove an existing entrance if a building receives an additional or substantial remodel and a building permit is required.

Is this to remove more congestion on major arteries like College?

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Is this to remove more congestion on major arteries like College?

In theory, Yes. The idea is to let the cars remain in the parking lot for as long as possible with only one exit to reduce the amount of cars pouring onto college drive and keep traffic moving on college drive. Think of it like storm water management, where a retention pond is built to hold the water, to prevent flooding, and slowly release the water later when river levels have begun to lower.

In this case, the cars "dukeing it out" in the parking lot to see who can exit first, instead of doing the same through multiple exits clogging college drive.

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