Plan Baton Rouge

[richyb83]

DDD Commission Meeting April 10, 2018 8:00 a.m. Raising Canes River Center, 275 S. River Rd. Meeting Rm 9 & 10 AGENDA

1. Call to Order 2. Declare Quorum 3. Approve Agenda 4. Approve March 13, 2018 Minutes 5. Board Action 6. Governmental Issues   • Cultural Products Districts • Riverboat Gaming 7. Update from Previous Board Meeting 8. Development Initiatives   • Developments Underway   • S. 14th Street Park Planned Improvements • DDD 30th Anniversary   • State Licensing Board of Directors Building   • Pedestrian and Bike Master Plan   • Rail Station Master Plan Steering Committee Meeting   • 19th Street Hostel   • City Hall Plaza   • Riverfront Plaza   • Town Square Phase II • Downtown Greenway   • Downtown Maintenance Committee   • New Business

9. Events     • Live After Five - April 13, 20, 27, & May 4   • Baton Rouge Blues Festival - April 14 - 15   • Third Street Songwriters Festival - April 20-21   • Walk for Humanity - April 21   • MS Walk - April 28   • Wine on the River - April 28   • OLOL Driving the Future - April 30   • Crawfish King Cookoff - May 4   • B.R. Arts Market - May 5   • Red Wig Walk - May 5   • Preserve Louisiana/ Old Governor's Mansion   • Manship Theatre/ LSU MOA   • Capitol Park Museum   • Old State Capitol   • River Center Events   • LASM   • USS KIDD 10. Strategic Plan   • Plan Baton Rouge II 11. Ongoing Projects   • CPEX • BREADA • DBA

12. Correspondence 13. Public Comment

[richyb83]

Impressed with how  the massive Lofts @ 6C  is beginning to look  ; literally takes the entire block of Sixth Street from Convention St. to Florida St.

From Florida Street

From same intersection...Looking West at the Courtyard Marriott construction 3 blocks away

[richyb83]

Originally had a cool name "Beauregard Quarters"....but now it's called "The Elias"...

4 floors / 26 units.....America Street @ Napoleon St.

Looking North ......you can see the top floors of Lofts @ 6C  a couple of blocks away

Edited April 6, 2018 by richyb83

[richyb83]

 Thanks for the "Like"  Antrell on Lofts @ 6C above....Think they are turning out to look pretty cool ...much better than the surface parking lot surrounded by black-iron fence.

& on Sixth Street  Three blocks north......The original contractor building 4 floors? won't be shared...now downsized to just 3 floors

Units of The Lofts @6C downtown apartments to open in summer; retail space also planned

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_9ad7187a-3cd4-11e8-b20c-b35541e60aba.html

The first units in The Lofts @ 6C, (142 units) a mixed-use development in downtown Baton Rouge, should be open by midsummer.

The update was presented Tuesday to the Downtown Development District Commission, along with information on a contractor board's office building, an Asian restaurant and a proposed hostel. 

The DDD also received an update on a new office building for the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors that will be built at 600 North St.

Ratcliff Construction of Alexandria, which is the contractor for the development, is mobilizing to start work this week, with plans to open by June 2019.

Trula Remson, a principal with Remson Haley Herpin Architects, said the three-story building will be about 19,000 square feet. That’s smaller than the original plans, which called for the licensing board to share a 28,000-square-foot building with Louisiana Associated General Contractors. When bids for the building came in over budget, the size was scaled down.

About 40 people will work in the licensing board’s office.

 

[richyb83]

A MESSAGE FROM THE DDD

add to calendar >> central green >>

[dan326]

Cool, I wonder if lunch is free? Lol!

[richyb83]

Good question Dan

DDD Commission Meeting May 8, 2018 8:00 a.m. The Lyceum Historic Meeting & Events Center, 124 Third Street AGENDA

1. Call to Order 2. Declare Quorum 3. Approve Agenda 4. Approve April 10, 2018 Minutes 5. Board Action 6. Governmental Issues   • Riverboat Gaming • Utility Paint Ordinance 7. Update from Previous Board Meeting 8. Development Initiatives   • Developments Underway   • Downtown East Update • DDD 30th Anniversary   • Pedestrian and Bike Master Plan   • City Hall Plaza   • Riverfront Plaza   • Town Square Phase II • Downtown Greenway   • Downtown Maintenance Committee   • New Business

9. Events     • Corked 5K - May 12   • Music and Mudbugs - May 12   • Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival - May 19 & 20   • GymFitBR Festival - May 26   • For Our Fallen Hump - May 26   • CANN 5K - June 2   • Happy's 5K - June 2   • Oyster Festival - June 30   • Preserve Louisiana/ Old Governor's Mansion   • Manship Theatre/ LSU MOA   • Capitol Park Museum   • Old State Capitol   • River Center Events   • LASM   • USS KIDD 10. Strategic Plan   • Plan Baton Rouge II 11. Ongoing Projects   • CPEX • BREADA • DBA

12. Correspondence 13. Public Comment

[richyb83]

Plan BR may have been my 1st Topic ever started here  on UP...It took a while after posting so much in BR Growth/Development thread when i started;   NCB (Nate) who started Louisiana NOLA/BR Forums helped me get it going

Great article...lengthy.....Plan BR was started 20 years ago...what a success it has been putting pieces of the puzzle together! Still unfinished...looking forward seeing what's next!

Starting w Consolidating State Office Buildings near Capitol Park;  Shaw Center for the Arts & Hilton Capitol Center; North Blvd Town Square; II City Plaza; Commerce Bldg & Cap One Bldg.  renovation; Super Market ; IBM Block; etc...

Plan Baton Rouge scores big in its 20-year quest to revitalize downtown

https://www.businessreport.com/politics/plan-baton-rouge-downtown-20-years

In June 1998, Baton Rouge embarked on one of the most comprehensive and significant planning processes in its history—a citywide effort aimed at transforming its dying downtown into a New Urbanist-inspired vision of a walkable, vibrant community where a diverse population could live, work and play.

 

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by richyb83

[richyb83]

 

[dan326]

I have to admit that I wasn't really convinced but it is nice looking now that it's complete.

[richyb83]

DDD Commission Meeting June 12, 2018 8:00 a.m. Shaw Center for the Arts, Hartley/Vey Studio Theatre AGENDA

1. Call to Order 2. Declare Quorum 3. Approve Agenda 4. Approve May 8th, 2018 Minutes 5. Board Action 6. Governmental Issues 7. Update from Previous Board Meeting 8. Development Initiatives   • Developments Underway • DDD 30th Anniversary   • River Center Theatre Plaza Charrette   • Riverfront Plaza   • Town Square Phase II   • Downtown Maintenance Committee   • New Business

9. Events     • Christ in the City Lunch Concert - June 15   • Baton Rouge Oyster Festival - June 30   • African American Museum Juneteenth Festival - June 16   • Baton Rouge Pride Festival - June 16   • USS KIDD's 4th of July Spectacular - July 4th   • Baton Rouge Concert Band - July 4th   • Preserve Louisiana/ Old Governor's Mansion   • Manship Theatre/ LSU MOA   • Capitol Park Museum   • Old State Capitol   • River Center Events   • LASM   • USS KIDD 10. Strategic Plan   • Plan Baton Rouge II 11. Ongoing Projects   • CPEX • BREADA • DBA

12. Correspondence 13. Public Comment 14. Trolley Tour of Select Developments

[Mr. Burnham]

I hope they stop building that hideous library and tear it down. Build something classical and beautiful in its place. 

[dan326]

2 hours ago, mr. bernham said:

I hope they stop building that hideous library and tear it down. Build something classical and beautiful in its place. 

I said I was going to stop talking about it but since you brought it up first that makes it ok for me to add... But yeah the petty side of me says whenever someone follows through with a bad plan abnormal issues end up happening to teach the person a lesson. On the other hand though, it is kind of embarrassing for them to have fought for this for it to have structural issues. 

[Mr. Burnham]

4 hours ago, dan326 said:

I said I was going to stop talking about it but since you brought it up first that makes it ok for me to add... But yeah the petty side of me says whenever someone follows through with a bad plan abnormal issues end up happening to teach the person a lesson. On the other hand though, it is kind of embarrassing for them to have fought for this for it to have structural issues. 

I agree. I just feel that with Galvez Plaza, and the NB Town Square, we were building a real civic center for Baton Rouge. The City Hall, the River Center Theater, and now the failed new library really are out of place, ugly, and just ruin that civic center. The structural failure of the new library just shows they should've gone with something better. 

[richyb83]

On 6/7/2018 at 11:59 PM, mr. bernham said:

I agree. I just feel that with Galvez Plaza, and the NB Town Square, we were building a real civic center for Baton Rouge. The City Hall, the River Center Theater, and now the failed new library really are out of place, ugly, and just ruin that civic center.

Are you saying the City Hall & River Center Theatre are out of place in the Civic Center too?

A lot  of people think the City Hall brutalist architectural style is hideous

What is your opinion of the Shaw Center for the Arts architectural   style??

The new green space does look nice at Galvez Plaza

 

[Mr. Burnham]

On 6/9/2018 at 11:49 PM, richyb83 said:

Are you saying the City Hall & River Center Theatre are out of place in the Civic Center too?

A lot  of people think the City Hall brutalist architectural style is hideous

What is your opinion of the Shaw Center for the Arts architectural   style??

The new green space does look nice at Galvez Plaza

 

Yes I am. By out of place I mean they do not fit with the original (and beautiful) city court house, the old state capitol, and the new district court house tower. They also do not fit with the green space at Galvez Plaza. Their brutalist style is just not a great fit and is depressingly imposing on the site.  All three buildings (library, city hall, and theater) are rather quite hideous buildings. 

The Shaw Center is a gorgeous building that gets modernism right. It's light and beautiful. It partakes in a lovely architectural dialogue with the Hilton Hotel, the beautifully detailed brick warehouse it sits partly on top of, and of course the old state capitol building. The only thing I would add/change would be to turn the empty lot in front of it into a beautifully landscaped park with a terrace and stairs that lead down to the river front and open up a vista that extends to the river. I'd also close the street in front of the Center's entrance to cars and make it a pedestrian only street. 

[dan326]

I actually like City Hall, I just think the exterior needs to be thoroughly cleaned. I do think the River Center has that basic, 70's, let's just stamp something out quick look. It'd be nice if they could re-skin it like Patrick Taylor.

Edited June 11, 2018 by dan326

[Mr. Burnham]

7 hours ago, dan326 said:

I actually like City Hall, I just think the exterior needs to be thoroughly cleaned. I do think the River Center has that basic, 70's, let's just stamp something out quick look. It'd be nice if they could re-skin it like Patrick Taylor.

I just think it looks like an office tower. Not a civic building. The River Center looks pretty rough too. 

If the City Hall was just a normal office tower, it would be fine, hell, I'd probably even like it. But it doesn't work as a city hall. A city hall should be a grand public building that elevates the individual and makes them feel apart of something grand and greater than themselves. The current City Hall works just fine as an office building, but it doesn't achieve the purpose it's name bestows upon it.

 

[dan326]

7 hours ago, mr. bernham said:

I just think it looks like an office tower. Not a civic building. The River Center looks pretty rough too. 

If the City Hall was just a normal office tower, it would be fine, hell, I'd probably even like it. But it doesn't work as a city hall. A city hall should be a grand public building that elevates the individual and makes them feel apart of something grand and greater than themselves. The current City Hall works just fine as an office building, but it doesn't achieve the purpose it's name bestows upon it.

 

Yeah that makes sense when you put it like that. Well maybe in 80 years when they'll have already gone through another remodel they'll consider rebuilding it although by then I fear it'll have moved from outdated to vintage to "a classic example of the era" status lol!

Edited June 12, 2018 by dan326

[richyb83]

On 6/11/2018 at 5:16 AM, mr. bernham said:

Yes I am. By out of place I mean they do not fit with the original (and beautiful) city court house, the old state capitol, and the new district court house tower. They also do not fit with the green space at Galvez Plaza. Their brutalist style is just not a great fit and is depressingly imposing on the site.  All three buildings (library, city hall, and theater) are rather quite hideous buildings. 

The Shaw Center is a gorgeous building that gets modernism right. It's light and beautiful. It partakes in a lovely architectural dialogue with the Hilton Hotel, the beautifully detailed brick warehouse it sits partly on top of, and of course the old state capitol building. The only thing I would add/change would be to turn the empty lot in front of it into a beautifully landscaped park with a terrace and stairs that lead down to the river front and open up a vista that extends to the river. I'd also close the street in front of the Center's entrance to cars and make it a pedestrian only street. 

You make good points....i happen to think Shaw Center & Old State Capitol contrast compliment each other very well...about as two cool a buildings as you will see anywhere in the U.S.     Seems people either Love or hate the Shaw Center,

Not a fan of most Brutalist architecture either(interesting/weird Era )...City Hall (Governmental Bldg.) is so-so for me.... the Theatre is not very attractive but supposed to get a nice upgrade. The River Center (arena) is plenty outdated; it would make for massive renovations for improvement. ....i do like the the nice job they did on the Expansion...

 

Glad it's not "Archived" w old threads....last post by Antrell in June 2015' back on PAGE 4

HERE is a thread i made nearly 12 years ago ((hard to believe)) of the vacant property...BR Water Works in front of Shaw Center....it's historic so they will leave it alone...i recommended a small tourist attraction like a RiverArium (aquarium) w native Louisiana species

CLICK ARROW....Hmmm new feature...

Sorry did not mean to show this Twice

>>I also think they should have painted the 100' ft tall Water Tower "Red" for the Red Stick...but that too is historic...only pale white will do they say.

Here was an idea from Trahan architects  of a sleek glass office tower that never happened either...you can see the shapes of Shaw Center & Old State Capitol (right) in the background

 

 

Edited June 13, 2018 by richyb83

[richyb83]

Lofts at 6C have come along way since the April 5th pics...will try to get some new ground-level pics in the coming weeks

(partially obstructed by AT&T Bldg.)

Edited July 20, 2018 by richyb83

[richyb83]

A MESSAGE FROM THE DDD

View toolkit >> press release >>

[richyb83]

Lofts at 6C coming along nicely

The Elias ; originally Beauregard Quarters;

Lofts at 6C a few blocks to the North

Edited August 4, 2018 by richyb83

[richyb83]

Cool Lamar Digital Billboard along I-10 near City Park Lake advertising Wampold's new mixed use with Residential in the Chase Bank Tower...driving a bit too fast keeping eye on the road...need to locate....nice rendering

DDD Commission Meeting August 14, 2018 8:00 a.m. Riverfront Gallery at the Center for Coastal & Deltaic Solutions - The Water Campus AGENDA

1. Call to Order 2. Declare Quorum 3. Approve Agenda 4. Approve June 12th, 2018 Minutes 5. Board Action 6. Governmental Issues 7. Update from Previous Board Meeting 8. Development Initiatives     • Water Campus Update • Developments Underway • DDD 30th Anniversary   • I-10 Projects   • CATS Initiatives   • Opportunity Zones   • Downtown Sewer Improvements Public Meeting   • Valencia Park Residential Development   • River Center Theatre Plaza Charrette   • Riverfront Plaza   • Town Square Phase II   • Downtown Maintenance Committee   • New Businesses

9. Events     • The Big Welcome concert: LSU / SU / BRCC - August 17   • Sickle Cell Run - August 25   • Common Ground - August 27   • GymFit Fest - September 1   • Baton Rouge Arts Market - September 1   • Hype Fitness Series - September 4   • Heart Health Walk - September 11   • Preserve Louisiana/ Old Governor's Mansion   • Manship Theatre/ LSU MOA   • Capitol Park Museum   • Old State Capitol   • River Center Events   • LASM   • USS KIDD 10. Strategic Plan   • Plan Baton Rouge II 11. Ongoing Projects   • CPEX • BREADA • DBA

12. Correspondence 13. Public Comment

[richyb83]

It's not the original 4-story building with LAGC no longer in the mix...(LBC will occupy 3 floors) ....but it should look nice up on the streetscape better than vacant parking lot!

Hopefully Lofts at 6C could be catalyst for more development...a game changer

A MESSAGE FROM THE DDD

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE construction CONTINUES Downtown! Construction downtown over the past several years has been booming, and it's not over yet!!! 47 projects are either planned or under construction and more will be coming soon. Whether on your lunch break, attending an event, or just enjoying the sites and activity downtown, check out the progress on a few of these upcoming developments. LA STATE LICENSING BOARD FOR CONTRACTORS (pictured above) - Located on the corner of 6th Street and North Street, this building is going to transform the previously vacant surface parking lot. Designed by Remson, Haley, & Herpin Architects and constructed by Ratcliff Construction. LOFTS @ 6C (pictured above) - This 142-unit apartment complex is currently being constructed on Sixth Street between Florida and Convention Street and is expected to welcome new residents soon! It is also transforming a once vacant surface parking lot and is adjacent to Convention Street Park. This development is led by local developer John O. Hearin, and constructed by Womack Construction. ELYSIAN II (pictured above) - Bringing an additional 100 residential units to Downtown East, the Elysian II development is led by Gulf Coast Housing Partnership. It is located at the intersection of North 13th Street and Spanish Town Road. COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT (pictured above) - Located on the prominent corner of Third Street and Florida Street, the Courtyard By Marriott will bring an additional 135 hotel rooms and a Starbucks to the heart of the Central Business District. This is the second hotel development in Downtown Baton Rouge by Windsor Aughtry Company. It is designed by Bounds and Gillespie Architects and constructed by Ratcliff Construction. The hotel is scheduled to open in late September. To learn more about these projects and what's going on downtown, check out our website and the Downtown Development Toolkit at the links below!

toolkit >> website >>