New Urbanism

[buckett5425]

Looney Ricks Kiss really needs to take their Andreas Duany ideas somewhere else. This is the second terrible glorified shopping mall, with faux architecture ive seen them design. I would love to continue ranting, but I will save ya'll the trouble. But this is really, really, really, terrible stuff.

On the good side of things, its nice to see large projects once again being announce, hopefully more good projects are on the way!

[dan326]

What kind of architecture would you suggest?

Looney Ricks Kiss really needs to take their Andreas Duany ideas somewhere else. This is the second terrible glorified shopping mall, with faux architecture ive seen them design. I would love to continue ranting, but I will save ya'll the trouble. But this is really, really, really, terrible stuff.

On the good side of things, its nice to see large projects once again being announce, hopefully more good projects are on the way!

[hagetaka]

I saw this story on the BRBR, 1st thought was oh no not again, we have too many of these fancy drawings and big dreams. The story was skipped, took a look at the permits listed in the area, threw it in the trash, exactly where this cover story belongs.

[cajun]

Great find!

Looks nicer tract housing and power centers would have looked! The layout looks promising. I prefer boulevards to traditional two way streets or this new center lane stuff that the city is in love with.

This looks like a big development, which means we could be coming out of the recession ahead of the country! If even parts of this make it to bid clerk, then I'd be impressed.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is within a mile of the new Woman's Hospital complex, right? What are they doing with the old Woman's hospital? Is that going to be private medical offices or what?

In all seriousness....this is near where my employer is planning on building a new 60,000 square foot building to house all of it's regional workers. Granted, that's in the 10 year plan, but if it happens, I'll be considering a move to the Airline/Highland neighborhood- right where this development is.

Edited March 1, 2010 by cajun

[richyb83]

^My bad cajun not answering the reply...yes that development would be within a mile of the new Women's Hospital complex...good question with the old one...I don't think they even know yet. I hate to see them go...

Here's another ambitious/massive TND...up in West Feliciana...regardless if this happens or not; thought it was worth a mention

Will it take a village?

The Villages of Columbia

As currently envisioned, the project is a mixed-use residential and commercial development that would be built in unincorporated Starhill in the southeast corner of the parish. It would sit on 187 acres along U.S. Highway 61 on the first bluff that rises above Thompson Creek, about one-half mile south of the access road under construction to the John James Audubon Bridge.

The development would be dense. According to its concept plan, it would contain nearly 900 single-family units, cottages, row houses and condos, along with 100,000 square feet of mixed-use office space and 125,000 square feet of commercial space.

Parish officials say it’s exactly the kind of project called for in the parish’s 2008 Comprehensive Master Plan, which establishes priorities for West Feliciana and guides its search for new residential, commercial and industrial developments. In one respect, their claim is true. The Master Plan calls for developing “villages” that follow a TND model, while still maintaining the parish’s rural and agricultural character.

Though West Feliciana is lauded for its lush landscapes, rolling hills and beautiful homes, it has virtually no middle-class tax base and little affordable housing. Nearly 80% of those who work at its two largest employers—Angola State Penitentiary and Entergy’s River Bend nuclear power plant—live outside the parish, according to Jones. Meanwhile, its third-largest employer, Renew Paper mill, recently shut down. Its school system is $1.2 million in the red, even though it is ranked the best in the state, and parish residents voted down a new tax last year.

“It’s not like we have five developers coming to West Feliciana wanting to do a project,” he says. “This is the only developer who has come to us in the last 12 months wanting to do anything.” Residents who are fighting to block the project say that’s not a good enough reason to approve it.

http://www.businessreport.com/news/2010/mar/08/will-it-take-village-rlet1/

Edited April 2, 2010 by richyb83

[richyb83]

This was in Business Report two weeks back...most of these probably won't come to fruition...

Proposed TNDs having trouble becoming reality

A little more than three years ago, more than 10 TNDs—each of them walkable communities with a mix of residential and commercial properties—were proposed for the Capital Region. And all of them were scheduled to be up and running no later than this year. Just a few months remain in 2010, and only two projects have broken ground: the Settlement at Willow Grove on Perkins Road and the Village at Magnolia Square.

A typical suburban development is sprawling, with separate zoning requirements for residential and commercial properties. But a TND uses smart-growth principles, which bring commercial and social amenities into a residential development. Many TNDs feature nature paths, green space, small lakes and gazebos. Some include grocery stores, libraries, schools, health clubs, churches and office spaces. “We’re creating a lifestyle,” Phillips says. “I want you to live there and shop there. I’d love for you to work there. I want your commutes to be shorter and your life to be easier.”

This type of planning makes the TND concept more complicated for developers. For example, zoning for such projects wasn’t established in East Baton Rouge Parish until 2006. But once they’re built, TNDs should be more resilient to market slowdowns than typical suburban neighborhoods because they offer a variety of residential options, including single-family and multi-family homes. “The TND covers the gamut from first-time singles, retirees, Millennials, Baby Boomers, all intermixed,” Oubre says. “So when one market softens, there are other markets in place to absorb, so the values hold together.

SETTLEMENT AT WILLOW GROVE

Where: Perkins Road

Original opening date: 2007

Status: 150 lots have been sold; 70 homes have been built

The Settlement at Willow Grove is the region’s most developed TND. Carmouche says about 150 lots have been sold in the 112-acre property, with 70 homes already built. But, he admits, there’s a long way to go. The retail and condominium portions of the project are on hold indefinitely until financing loosens up. “We were getting ready to go into construction right when the financial collapse happened,” he says, “and then the banks said they could no longer fund the loan.” Carmouche believes sales have been affected by the three-year project to widen Perkins Road from Essen Lane to Siegen as well as by the lack of condominium sales at nearby Perkins Rowe. But he is confident that Willow Grove will quickly flourish once the market rebounds because it has a head start over competing TNDs, including one of his own.

VILLAGE AT MAGNOLIA SQUARE

Where: Lovett Road, Central

Original opening date: 2008

Status: 14 homes have been built

Broke ground in November....lot sales have been relatively steady, and 14 homes have been completed. The 185-acre development will include restaurants, an ice cream shop, a coffee shop, a grocery store, amphitheater and fishing lakes.... the location, west of heavily traveled Sullivan Road, an advantage because the area is developing rapidly. It will receive an even bigger boost with the completion of Central Thruway, which will provide an improved north-south connection from Nicholson Drive to Hooper Road. “We’re not participating in the down economy,” Nunnally says. “Sales have been very good. There’s a lot of growth occurring here.”

ROUZAN

Where: Perkins Road

Original opening date: 2008

Status: Groundbreaking scheduled for early to mid-September; 9 lots have been sold

To the dismay of neighboring residents’ associations, lot sales have started in Rouzan, the controversial TND to be built on the Ford property along Perkins Road between Southdowns and Pollard Estates. Project manager Tommy Spinosa III says groundbreaking for roadwork for the Mimosa District—an early element of the 119-acre development—will begin in the near future and last about four months. Nine lots already have contracts, he says, but marketing won’t start until the infrastructure is further along.

THE GROVE

Where: Interstate 10 and Picardy Avenue

Original opening date: 2009

Status: On hold

Carmouche also is developing The Grove, a 118-acre project at Interstate 10 and Picardy Avenue adjacent to the Mall of Louisiana that originally was scheduled for construction in 2009. It will be more commercial and more urban than its sister, and the “town center-like” TND will include hotels, retail, restaurants, office space, condos and townhomes. “It’s going to be a lot harder for [competing TNDs] to get the ball rolling,” he says. “We’ve already got a ball, and we’ve rolled it. When the market catches up, we’ll come back strong.”

LA VIE

Where: Interstate 12 and O’Neal Lane

Original opening date: 2010

Status: On hold

Representatives from R.W. Day didn’t return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment on La Vie, a 1,000-acre development off O’Neal Lane and Interstate 12 that will include 670 single-family homes, hotels and apartments. The project has been tied up in litigation over state tax credits that could be used toward movie studios also planned for the site. A short blurb on the R.W. Day website states that “detailed information including how you can live and work in La Vie will be posted soon.”

LONG FARM

Where: Airline Highway and Barringer Foreman Road

Original opening date: TBA

Status: In the planning stage

AMERICANA

Where: La. Highway 64, Zachary

Original opening date: 2008

Status: Purchased by a group of investors from a bankruptcy trustee in October 2009

RIVERVIEW

Where: La. Highway 1, Brusly

Original opening date: 2008

Status: On hold

Riverview has been five years in the making. The 253-acre traditional neighborhood development planned for West Baton Rouge Parish was scheduled to be move-in ready by 2008, with features that included a view along the Mississippi River, 50 acres of parks, an open-air farmers’ market and bike trails, and a location just five minutes from downtown Baton Rouge. All the pieces are in place for developer Rawlston Phillips Jr. He’s just waiting for the right time to get started. “There are a lot of land mines out there we still need to get past,” he says. “But we’d hope that in a year or so, we could be ready to go.” Phillips is not alone is biding his time

EDENBOURNE

Where: Interstate 10 and La. Highway 44, Gonzales

Original opening date: 2009

Status: Unknown

Quadrants Inc., the Michigan-based developer of the Edenbourne TND planned for I-10 and La. Highway 44 in Gonzales, also did not return phone calls. The 303-acre project, once scheduled for construction in 2009, calls for 1 million square feet of commercial space, including hotels and a much-needed movie theater for rapidly growing Ascension Parish

CINCLARE

Where: La. Highway 1, Brusly

Original opening date: 2011

Status: Construction on the first of six neighborhoods could begin within eight months

*no pic available

WEST VIEW CROSSING

Where: Court Street, Port Allen

Original opening date: TBA

Status: In the planning stage

*no pic available

RIVERTON PLANTATION

Where: La. Highway 22, Gonzales

Original opening date: 2009

Status: Unknown

*no pic available

>Entire article...

http://www.businessreport.com/news/2010/sep/07/where-tnds-are-rlet1/?real-estate

Edited September 21, 2010 by richyb83

[richyb83]

Wow! Thought this was dead... critical infil development back in the news! Wonder if the plan on the drawing board is as massive as the original?? 200 acre TND between Ardenwood Drive to Lobdell Ave. It was aimed at mixed-income residents; plans were to build 1,200 housing units along with community center and school.

Announcement possible soon about Smiley Heights development

A mixed-use development planned for Mid City’s Smiley Heights area that’s been on hold since 2007 may be back on again. A resolution authorizing Mayor Kip Holden to execute an agreement with the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority for $1.5 million in community development block grant money, for development of affordable rental housing in Smiley Heights, was pulled from the Metro Council agenda in February and deferred to March 23. Authority CEO Walter Monsour says he hopes to have “a pretty significant announcement at that point,” but wouldn’t discuss specifics. “There are a lot of moving parts, and they’re not all in their place yet,” Monsour says. A spokesman for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, whose real estate arm, Commercial Properties Realty Trust, was involved in the original project, did not respond to a call or an e-mail request for comment. Plans for what was intended to be a massive smart-growth neighborhood behind the Bon Carré Business Center came to an indefinite stall in early 2007 after failed talks with government programs and authorities that would have created conditions necessary to facilitate the development. Redevelopment in the Mid City area is a key element of FuturEBR, the proposed and still-evolving master plan for East Baton Rouge Parish

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/2011/mar/09/2134/

[dan326]

Hhhhhhh , look at all the pretty renderings....

I hope it works out, it's crazy such a huge piece of land is sitting in the middle of the city.

[Antrell Williams]

Where is this land? I'm thinking of Mall City behind Bon Carre.

[steve3n8]

I was talking to the developer of the Long farm TND, Russel Mosley, and he says he thinks the the first homes on the property should begin in May of 2012 depending on how the economy is faring!

[dan326]

Cool! That means they might start laying the roads this year. How did you get to meet the developer?

Edited March 24, 2011 by dan326

[steve3n8]

Cool! That means they might start laying the roads this year. How did you get to meet the developer?

A good friend of mine knows him personally and i got to meet him recently. He is very passionate about the development and hopes to make this a great place to live and work.

[Antrell Williams]

Is there any more news on Smiley Heights? Possibly renderings?

[dan326]

Great, keep us updated.

"Smiley Heights development to include BRCC and EBR career school

The planned Smiley Heights development behind the Bon Carré Business Center in Mid City will include the East Baton Rouge Parish School System’s Career Academy and an expansion of Baton Rouge Community College, Baton Rouge Area Foundation President John Davies says. BRAF put the land deal together and helped bring in the two key components; now it’s in the process of handing the project off to the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority. The Career Academy would provide vocational training and a traditional academic curriculum. Plans are for the school to open next year at what is now Brookstown Elementary, then move to the Smiley Heights site once the development is up and running. BRCC has agreed to build a 60,000-square-foot structure, Davies says. Plans for what was intended to be a massive mixed-use neighborhood stalled in early 2007 after most of the government assistance that might have gone into the project went to the New Orleans area to help post-Katrina rebuilding. Davies says the project could include housing, retail and offices, but a new master plan is needed. Davies says he expects the land deal to close in the next 30 to 60 days. Total land cost is about $2 million; Davies wasn't able to specify the exact number. Davies says nine different nonprofits owned pieces of the 200-acre site. Redevelopment authority CEO Walter Monsour could not immediately be reached for comment."

businessreport.com

[Antrell Williams]

Good news, thanks for the post Dan.

[richyb83]

Will the Long Farm TND really happen?? In phases?

Mixed-Use Plan Up for Approval

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/Mixed-use-plan-up-for-approval.html

Also approval for the 4-story 100-unit Elysian on Spanish Town at N 13th??

[itsjustme3]

Will the Long Farm TND really happen?? In phases?

Mixed-Use Plan Up for Approval

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/Mixed-use-plan-up-for-approval.html

Also approval for the 4-story 100-unit Elysian on Spanish Town at N 13th??

Yes Long Farm will happen. Thats where people want to live. Plus only going to get more attractive when the Highland rd construction is finished.

As for Elysian, the plan is to house people paying rentals ranging from $200/ month to $1k/ month? On the hobo and crackhead side of I-110?????

HAHAHA. yeah, that won't turn ghetto at all.

Edited May 20, 2011 by itsjustme2

[steve3n8]

Long Farm is expected to start next year in May 2012.......according to Mosley, and yes hopefully that whole area will be transformed after highland construction is finished.

[richyb83]

We shall see...Long Farm is going to be HUGE...done in phase it will take many years to complete. It should be interesting to see how New Urbanism done in suburbia...

And so will this...thought this project out in Zachary was dead...maybe not?? I was unaware it will have a movie theatre & forgot abt the YMCA

Americana Group ask for Annexation

The developers of a planned $500 million mixed-use(TND) development west of Zachary will ask City Council to annex 413-acres of land between it and the city.

http://theadvocate.com/news/business/321668-63/americana-group-asks-annexation.html

*rendering from way back in Jan 08' post#63

Edited July 9, 2011 by richyb83

[Antrell Williams]

Where exactly on Highland Rd is Long Farm? Across Old Perkins Rd from Blue Bayou? I saw that land cleared last time I was in BR, 1-2 months ago.

[richyb83]

It's 237-acres between Airline Hwy & Old Jefferson; east of Barringer-Foreman Rd

Map on Post #124

Edited July 10, 2011 by richyb83

[itsjustme3]

Sadly, when it's finished, it won't look like the renderings. Just like how the Juban Crossings project decided to remove almost all the trees from their project.

http://www.longfarmbr.com/renderings.html

[richyb83]

Yeah it's absolutely pitiful how Juban Crossing was totally stripped of it's trees...hopefully Long Farm keeps some of those old beautiful Oak trees. Nearly 1/2 the property is already open fields.

Given the size of this project and the slow market it will take at least 25 years to complete..heck...even the new little nook Audubon Square down Tiger Bend Rd only has a few houses completed after all of this time.

Edited July 11, 2011 by richyb83

[steve3n8]

Early 2012 start planned for Zachary TND first phase

Construction of Americana, a 420-acre TND off E. Mt. Pleasant-Zachary Road, could start in early 2012. Charles Landry, the attorney representing Americana, says financing isn't an issue for the first phase of the development, which will include a little more than 100 homes, a 10-screen movie theater and a 26,000-square-foot YMCA branch. The issues involve getting about 413 acres of the development annexed into Zachary and city officials' approval of the zoning changes. Lafayette developer Robert Daigle took over development of Americana after New Towne Development Group, the corporate entity that oversaw the proposed TND, defaulted on its mortgage; and a suit was filed to put it into involuntary bankruptcy. For a 2009 Business Report cover story about the wrangling over Americana, click here. Plans are for a 15-year build-out, eventually completing a community with between 1,500 to 1,800 homes and 500,000 square feet of commercial space. Landry says some senior living groups are also interested in doing something in Americana. "The timing is perfect to go forward on this," he says. If all goes well, the movie theater and YMCA should open in late 2012 or early 2013.

businessreport.com

[all2neat]

Awesome, I'm glad this is happening. It also gives a shorter drive to the movies for some nbr residents.