Baton Rouge Developbits

[cajun]

Because it's a offshoot of other/bigger projects. In the long run nobody cares about Mathernes. They are just taking advantage of a upswing.

Negative. The impact of a grocery downtown will have a major impact on the residential market there. You may not care, but a lot of people do.

[itsjustme3]

Negative. The impact of a grocery downtown will have a major impact on the residential market there. You may not care, but a lot of people do.

In the scheme of big projects a grocery store, no, it doesn't matter. Residential units may start to follow the grocery store location(s) so they will care. It's all a domino effect.

[dan326]

Lol, oh yeah, I forgot about all the incentives. Like Cajun said,  I'm sure some of them are trying to beat the rush too. 

[timelordnerd]

I have some Downtown New Library visuals, they are the ones that came out in July. Before I post them has anyone else done so already?

[dan326]

I think they might have been posted on the library or Plan BR thread.

[cajun]

I have some Downtown New Library visuals, they are the ones that came out in July. Before I post them has anyone else done so already?

 

Please don't.  They are hideous.  

[ehyfield]

Is this the rendering that looks like a mix between an accordion and a stack of paper?

[Antrell Williams]

Please don't.  They are hideous.  

It would be nice to have a building which compliments both the Old State Capitol as well as more modern styles like the Shaw Center. I just don't think the new library will be a lasting piece of architecture in 60 years.

[cajun]

It would be nice to have a building which compliments both the Old State Capitol as well as more modern styles like the Shaw Center. I just don't think the new library will be a lasting piece of architecture in 60 years.

Of course it won't. Architecture is an ego-driven field. Why compliment a neighborhood when you can create a hideous hunk if crap that everyone will gawk at in disgust while architecture magazines will fawn over your "vibrant, progressive" new building?

That's so much more fun than building a functional, architecturally creative design that quietly pays respect to the existing neighborhood fabric. Architects that do that don't get their names published. They'd rather all build a bunch of little Guggenheims.

[garrett_225]

Of course it won't. Architecture is an ego-driven field. Why compliment a neighborhood when you can create a hideous hunk if crap that everyone will gawk at in disgust while architecture magazines will fawn over your "vibrant, progressive" new building?

That's so much more fun than building a functional, architecturally creative design that quietly pays respect to the existing neighborhood fabric. Architects that do that don't get their names published. They'd rather all build a bunch of little Guggenheims.

 

I only took one introductory Architecture course during my time at LSU, and not once was an architect mentioned who did anything traditional. It was all about post-modern garbage. A handful of examples were true works of art, but most were just offensive architectural puke. Really made me angry. 

[cajun]

I only took one introductory Architecture course during my time at LSU, and not once was an architect mentioned who did anything traditional. It was all about post-modern garbage. A handful of examples were true works of art, but most were just offensive architectural puke. Really made me angry.

I agree completely.

I applaud owners and developers who demand the product that they envision. The bar is much higher for that in the private sector than in the public sector.

Edited January 7, 2014 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

Of course it won't. Architecture is an ego-driven field. Why compliment a neighborhood when you can create a hideous hunk if crap that everyone will gawk at in disgust while architecture magazines will fawn over your "vibrant, progressive" new building?

That's so much more fun than building a functional, architecturally creative design that quietly pays respect to the existing neighborhood fabric. Architects that do that don't get their names published. They'd rather all build a bunch of little Guggenheims.

Ego-driven is right. But where's our guy who wants to bring back the old as well?

[cajun]

Ego-driven is right. But where's our guy who wants to bring back the old as well?

I support historic preservation and have a deep respect for the people involved because they are pretty much moving mountains to make things work. It's a less glamorous concentration at the moment but I think appreciation for it for people outside that field on the rise. It's more appreciated in places like New Orleans or San Francisco than Atlanta or Houston but that's an unscientific personal observation.

Edited January 7, 2014 by cajun

[Antrell Williams]

I support historic preservation and have a deep respect for the people involved because they are pretty much moving mountains to make things work. It's a less glamorous concentration at the moment but I think appreciation for it for people outside that field on the rise. It's more appreciated in places like New Orleans or San Francisco than Atlanta or Houston but that's an unscientific personal observation.

Houston doesn't benefit (sometimes) from fiercely strong preservation groups like New Orleans.

[dan326]

"RaceTrac plans gas station at Jefferson-Bluebonnet

 

RaceTrac Petroleum plans to build a gas station and convenience store at the intersection of Jefferson Highway and Bluebonnet Boulevard.

 

The Atlanta-based company has submitted plans to build a 5,900-square-foot convenience store with 18 gas pumps to the city-parish Planning Commission. A request to rezone the land from its current residential designation will go before the commission at its July 21 meeting."

 

http://theadvocate.com/news/business/9374807-123/racetrac-plans-gas-station-at

Edited June 9, 2014 by dan326

[dan326]

I know you can only make a Walmart so nice, but I'm still disappointed they didn't use the terra cotta accents like in the original rendering on the new one on Bluebonnet.

[itsjustme3]

Renderings almost never look like the finished build. Renderings are for suckers.

[dan326]

^You know...I think I'm going to have to agree with that.

[ehyfield]

Renderings almost never look like the finished build. Renderings are for suckers.

...and maybe swaying the city council.

[Antrell Williams]

I would have rather them build anything but a Walmart. Regardless of the exterior, the interior is just as ugly.

[Mr. Burnham]

I would have rather them build anything but a Walmart. Regardless of the exterior, the interior is just as ugly.

Not to mention the back bone of some of BR's worst sprawl. 

[Antrell Williams]

Not to mention the back bone of some of BR's worst sprawl. 

At least it's in the parish though.

[dan326]

"Baton Rouge-based BBP Sales, a Gulf Coast region supplier of industrial instrumentation, valves and analytical products, filed its plan review application with the city-parish Department of Public Works to build a new headquarters at 337 Highlandia Drive off Highland Road near Interstate 10. According to the application, the new building will be approximately 16,500 square feet—more than double the size of BBP's current headquarters—and cost $2.4 million to build. BBP's current headquarters are located in a 6,500-square-foot office building at 11842 Cloverland Court, off Cloverland Avenue near Airline Highway. Business growth and a need for more space prompted the relocation, a BBP spokesperson says. Other noteworthy plan review applications recently filed with DPW include:

 

• Madison Preparatory Academy's application to build a new 2,800-square-foot building on its campus located at 1555 Madison Ave.

 

• Lockwood International's application to add 10,000 square feet to its existing 18,500-square-foot office warehouse at 7000 Exchequer Drive.

 

• St. Margaret's Episcopal Church's application to add on to its church campus, located at 12663 Perkins Road"

 

businessreport.com

 

Edited June 24, 2014 by dan326

[dan326]

Kinda sad, but I do think that old dilapidated building is weighing the area down.   Demolition of Broadmoor Theatre, neighboring building planned

 

To make way for additional parking at the Broadmoor Village Shopping Center—which will welcome a new Hi Nabor grocery store later this fall—the demolition of a 42,000-square-foot building neighboring the Broadmoor Theatre is expected to get underway in the next few days, says Austin Earhart of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate. The demolition of the theater is also planned, but Earhart says there's no hard timeline for that project just yet. "What's holding up the theater is that it's still occupied by [Randolph] Ogden, who subleases some of the space to a number of tenants and makes pretty good money on it," Earhart explains. "So, no one can blame him for wanting to stay in there, but the lease for the Hi Nabor store does require that the theater be demolished, and there are ongoing negotiations to work out when that will happen." As Daily Report has previously reported, Hi Nabor is vacating its location in the Drusilla Shopping Center at the end of this week and hopes to open the Broadmoor location by September. Hi Nabor will take up 23,000 square feet of currently vacant space in the Broadmoor center and plans to add another 5,000 square feet with an expansion. That leaves two vacant parcels remaining in the center—which is located on Florida Boulevard, approximately one mile east of Airline Highway, and is also home to Planet Fitness, Family Dollar and American Cash Advance—totalling approximately 11,200 square feet. "The problem with the center is that there's really no visibility from Florida," Earhart says. "So when the theater and neighboring building come down, it will not only create a whole lot of extra parking space, but I think it will really open up the visibility there and help us attract some tenants to fill it out."

 

 

businessreport.com

[all2neat]

That is necessary at this point.