FuturEBR

[dan326]

Maybe its just Antrell and I who thinks so but the article seems to imply the developer is building the park. So if nothing else gets built neither will the park. And the other people who bring there children to the riverfront that fronts other dilapidated parts of downtown are the one would probably visit this park even if it was the only thing there. I tell us, if BR was really as dangerous as you say half of the city woulda been killed off by now.

[itsjustme3]

Maybe its just Antrell and I who thinks so but the article seems to imply the developer is building the park. So if nothing else gets built neither will the park. And the other people who bring there children to the riverfront that fronts other dilapidated parts of downtown are the one would probably visit this park even if it was the only thing there. I tell us, if BR was really as dangerous as you say half of the city woulda been killed off by now.

City money was used for the railroad overpass and the drainage and laying the new foundation.

And if you think north BR is safe then that's fine with me. The crime stats say otherwise.

[dan326]

They thought it would be a good investment and it might be.

This development isn't in North BR and I wasn't refering to that area.

[buckett5425]

The developer Pete Clements and the Hollywood Casino split the cost of the underpass. No public money was used.

Also, y'all are misinterpreting the word "park" in that article. What Clements is referring to is the 7acre boardwalk/park that will front the river and be an extension to the existing public river walk. He isn't making a 36 acre green space. He's simply beginning the first phase of beautifying the property so that when he subdivides the land, as he said he would, more developers and investors will come in to jump start the project.

River Park is essentially a really big subdivision. The land owner, Pete Clements, adds infrastructure and beautifies the property while individual owners then come into to build their own projects on his site. It's a safer way to invest.

Edited August 25, 2011 by buckett5425

[dan326]

Thanks for the great explaination Buckett. I figured it meant boardwalk.

[Antrell Williams]

Downtown isn't north BR. Thank you for the well said explanation buckett. I didn't know private developments were going to be behind this. Makes more sense now.

[steve3n8]

Holden to form implementation team for FuturEBR recommendations

Mayor Kip Holden is forming a team to implement the FuturEBR 30-year land-use and development plan, which has been adopted by the Metro Council. The team, which will be announced Tuesday, will work with Holden and city-parish departments to identify funding mechanisms and prioritize initiatives. John Fregonese, whose Portland, Ore.-based consulting team put the FuturEBR plan together, will be presenting Holden a list of prioritized recommendations for near- and long-term implementation. Holden and Fregonese will unveil the strategic implementation plan and team at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Old State Capitol. To read a recent Business Report story on the FuturEBR plan, click here.

Businessreport.com

[steve3n8]

Mayor to dedicate administrative position to comprehensive plan

Mayor Kip Holden says he plans to fill a vacant position in his administration with someone whose sole job will be implementation of FuturEBR, the parish's new comprehensive plan for land use and development. The search will begin immediately, and Holden expects to hire someone before the end of the year. Holden hopes to find someone with at least 10 years' experience in economic development, land use, transportation planning and related issues. That person will serve as a direct connection to the mayor's office for the plan's implementation team, including city-parish Planning Director Troy Bunch, Urban Development Director Chip Boyles, East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority CEO Walter Monsour, Mid City Redevelopment Alliance Director Sam Sanders, Center for Planning Excellence CEO Elizabeth "Boo" Thomas, and Downtown Development District Director Davis Rhorer. Holden announced the implementation team and strategy at a press conference this morning. Read the full story here.

Businessreport.com

[Antrell Williams]

I wonder if I can apply. I have forum experience. lol

[richyb83]

Nice story in the November 225...

What Now?

Much of the growth in and around Baton Rouge has been obvious: new state office buildings rising around the Capitol; hotels and condos, bars and restaurants reviving downtown; the new Mall of Louisiana and the new-style, retail-residential development at Perkins Rowe; the blossoming of suburbs out along I-10 and I-12.

Despite the growth (and sometimes because of it), a spectrum of problems hobbles this community: the traffic-choked interstates, surface streets and rural roads across the area; splintering of the parish as new school systems—and even a new city—formed at the northern end; a largely substandard public school system; limited public transportation; and a murder rate that continues to soar.

Despite those shortcomings, Baton Rouge is a vastly more livable, attractive city than it was a generation ago. To draw and keep young professionals, any successful city must offer amenities: good eats, a bar scene, arts, nightlife.

*rest of article

http://www.225batonrouge.com/news/2011/nov/01/now-what/

[steve3n8]

City-parish eyes code changes for implementing FuturEBR

Now that Baton Rouge has a new master plan, it's time to start implementing the $2 million blueprint for land use and development, FuturEBR. But that's easier said than done and will require hundreds of changes to the city-parish Unified Development Code, or UDC. "This is a big deal," says attorney Charles Landry, chairman of the city-parish Zoning Advisory Committee at its monthly meeting earlier today. "Ninety percent of communities waste their planning dollars by failing to implement their plans. If we don't implement this, we will have wasted $2 million." As its name implies, the Zoning Advisory Committee advises the East Baton Rouge Parish Planning Commission, and has been charged with carrying out one of the trickiest parts of the new master plan—updating the city parish zoning code so the regulations on the books are in sync with the recommendations in FuturEBR. A 10-person ZAC subcommittee, chaired by local attorney Wayne Woody, will oversee the process of making nearly 200 recommended amendments to the UDC. That process is expected to take at least one year. All recommendations will still require approval by both the Planning Commission and the Metro Council.

Businessreport.com

[richyb83]

Interesting...a Kenilworth-to-Corporate corridor?? Which would dog-leg off of the Kenilworth-Hennessey Connector, curve behind Concord Estates, cross under the interstate and eventually tie in to Corporate Boulevard....not sure about the mansions at the end of Pike Lane?? And LSU's Rural Life Plantation surely would not approve?? The gap is simply too wide between major north-south arteries College Drive & Essen Lane.

Testing FuturEBR

After nearly five years on the market, the 2.9-acre tract of vacant land at the intersection of Kenilworth Parkway and Perkins Road was set to change hands this month, and realtor Ty Gose thought he had a good deal in the works. A group of buyers had signed a purchase agreement for the parcel and had hopes of developing an office park there.

Two weeks before closing, however, Gose got word from the Department of Public Works that it wouldn't issue permits to build on the property because the land is identified as the site of a future cut-through street that would provide access directly from Perkins to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. The city's new land-use plan, FuturEBR, also identifies the site as a potential “connecting corridor,” and goes so far as to suggest it could eventually link Kenilworth all the way to Corporate Boulevard.

As of press time, Gose was still hoping to change the minds of city-parish leaders and prevent them from effectively killing his deal. After all, he says, whatever the city's land-use plans call for on paper, to suggest Kenilworth should be extended straight through some of the mansions on Moss Side Lane is a little incredible. “I'm just trying to get in front of decision makers and get them to take a level-headed view of this right of way,” he says.

But in a city where traffic congestion is feared as much as crime, shouldn't plans that further road connectivity take precedence over just about any other kind of land deal?

Such will be the challenge of implementing FuturEBR, a $2 million land-use plan that was more than a year in the making and has been much-heralded since its release last summer. It's a great plan, like other city-parish land-use plans that preceded it. But turning its many great suggestions into reality will take a lot of time and money. In the process, it's going to gum up a lot of deals and anger some of the same people who supported the plan in the first place.

http://www.businessr.../305149985/1001

Edited May 17, 2012 by richyb83

[cajun]

If I'm a property owner, I'm suing. Either pay market price for my land or let me sell it to someone who will.

Baton Rouge needs to acquire these tracts before they develop if they want a road there.

[Antrell Williams]

What do the mansions have to do with it, they're on the other side of the bayou except for that one street.

[richyb83]

Some of you had mentioned the number of access points allowed on specific streets/highway's College/Jefferson, etc.....think that was back in Towne Center thread?? This story relates....the little College Creek strip shopping center has a BAD set-up...moving the business a little further down to the vacant Blockbuster was an improvement.

Access denied

A new policy to regulate traffic flow in Baton Rouge could put business owners at odds with planners.

Steven Bernhard says that when his video game store, Gameware, moved from the College Creek retail development on College Drive, down a few doors to the old Blockbuster Video, his regular customers had one thing to say about it. “They said it was much easier to get in and out of,”

Gameware's new location, in the middle of College Drive, is now accessible from multiple access points, and departing patrons have the benefit of a traffic light to facilitate left turns against the thoroughfare's notorious traffic.

Oregon-based planner John Fregonese, who led the creation of the FuturEBR master plan, cited Baton Rouge's heavy reliance on the interstate and a few arterial corridors as the chief reason for local travel delays. The issue is exacerbated by the lack of a functioning grid system and also by the hefty presence of access points for retail stores and commercial developments. Travel time is constantly slowed as motorists exit and enter roadways.

Now a new policy from the state Department of Transportation and Development aims to address these access issues, but it may come at the expense of property rights, say local developers and business owners.

DOTD's Access Connections Policy, a 2011 administrative update to an existing state statute, aims to create a consistently applied set of rules concerning the placement of curb cuts and access points along state roads. In Baton Rouge, this includes Airline Highway, Perkins Road, College Drive, Florida Boulevard and others.

The idea is to reduce the number of access points so that traffic continues to flow, and to use strategies like frontage roads and “right in, right out” turn lanes to create a more predictable environment with fewer conflict points, says DOTD spokesperson Jodi Conachen. “The goal is to respect landowners' rights but to respect the overall infrastructure and the need to mitigate safety hazards,”

*rest of article

http://www.businessreport.com/article/20120625/BUSINESSREPORT0401/306259985/0/daily-reportAM

[richyb83]

Mid City group prepares to take on FuturEBR

The Mid City Redevelopment Alliance was created by Baton Rouge General Medical Center two decades ago to improve the area around the hospital. Now that the alliance is an independent nonprofit, the staff is in the process of creating a strategic plan for the future. "One thing that we've decided is that we will be taking FuturEBR to heart," says Executive Director Sam Sanders, "and looking at how we can make sure this organization is positioned to do what it can to help implement that for the Mid City region." Sanders says the alliance is engaging residents, and part of that process is helping them understand how FuturEBR, the parish's comprehensive master plan for land use and development, could affect Mid City. The alliance may begin to take the lead on development projects, perhaps on blighted properties for which the Redevelopment Authority has been able to obtain clear titles. Whether the organization will build up its own staff, or contract with outside parties as needed, hasn't yet been decided; Sanders says both models can work. "There are nonprofit groups like us all over the country," he says. "Some of them are building apartment complexes and commercial strip malls. We have to decide, is that where we want to go? Or do we just want to do a little bit more than what we've been doing?"

http://www.businessreport.com/section/daily-reportPM

[richyb83]

This has been posted here on UP a few times in Mid City thread...now mentioned with FuturEBR....this proposed little enclave in eastern Mid City looks similar to the ones in the spread out street grid of nearby Old Goodwood....

 

Model for development....Planner, designer gets good initial reviews for Government Street concept

 

For nearly a year and a half, Michael Hogstrom passed by an undeveloped tract of land at the intersection of Government Street and Croydon Avenue while commuting to work from his Capital Heights home. “I could not figure why that property had not been developed,” said Hogstrom, the owner of Onsite Design, a real estate planning and design firm.

 

After all, the land was right between downtown and Towne Center and very close to amenities such as Independence Park, the Main Library and BREC’s Liberty Lagoon. “Most properties that are vacant in a good area, they’re usually contaminated, there’s a story behind it.” After doing some research, Hogstrom found the 1.4 acre site was used as farmland 40 years ago.

There was talk about putting condos there shortly after Hurricane Katrina, but nothing happened.

 

Hogstrom and supporters of E’tage Gardens say the development is a model for denser, creative infill development in Baton Rouge, one of the key points of FutureBR

 

“One constant thread in my work is that smart architecture and smart land planning work together,” he said. Hogstrom’s work has focused on how small boxes (houses) interact with large boxes (developments).

 

To that end, the development will feature open spaces and sidewalks to promote community connectivity. To further enhance the feel of E’tage Gardens, all of the homes that face the open spaces or streets must have exterior porches that take up more than half the façade. “We want to make it pedestrian-friendly,” Hogstrom said.  Plans are to start construction on at least three houses by summer 2013.

 

http://theadvocate.com/news/business/4616069-123/model-for-development

 

[richyb83]

Where is my pic on the  above post???

 

FutureBR team makes recommendations

 

The bulk of Tuesday’s recommendations fell under the category of improving transportation and building stronger neighborhoods with a greater sense of place, particularly in Mid-city.

John Price, a planning commissioner and the mayor’s liaison to the FIT team, invoked Austin, Texas’, 6th Street and Memphis, Tenn.’s, Beale Street as examples of the cultural and economic draw that streets with a strong sense of place can exert.

 

He said that was shown during a recent weekend demonstration project that reduced lanes on Government Street in Baton Rouge and set up temporary retailers close to the street. “Once you slow down that traffic, you begin to create a different environment,” he said, before acknowledging that permanent changes to Government and other streets will be expensive and a challenge to fund. Price said the city will have a “complete streets” policy statement by the end of the year to guide its creation of new streets and rehabbing existing streets. He said the policy will not necessarily result in every street having a bike path or sidewalk, but it will institutionalize the consideration of all modes of transportation in how the city builds and maintains its roads.

 

The complete streets element is a long-term, transformative process but one that “is both an economic driver and a transportation element.”

 

The team will also recommend a “great streets” program that will focus on how to improve the sense of place on the major corridors of Government Street, Plank Road, Perkins Road, Airline Highway, Florida Boulevard and Nicholson Drive. Government and Plank would be first in line. Price has said in the past that these initiatives could include taking over all or portions of any of these roads from the state.

 

The district has potentially transformational projects in the works, including any changes to Government Street; the upcoming redevelopment of Smiley Heights off Florida Boulevard to include an automotive training center, a technical college, housing and retail; and the purchase of the former Woman’s Hospital site on Airline Highway to become the home of the Baton Rouge Police Department and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Monsour said the team is recommending a master plan be created for the 24-acre former hospital site, since the two law enforcement agencies won’t be using all of it. Their presence could help create some demand for key services missing in the area. Also, a private developer could get involved with the development of the site, he said.

 

Similarly, the outline of the team’s recommendations calls for a master plan of a “new” midcity.

 

The team also recommended the mayor’s office participate fully in the nascent effort to develop a passenger rail system between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It noted the mayor and his counterparts in all but two parishes between the two cities have made their appointments to the Louisiana Intrastate Rail Compact. Price said a rail line, while not high-speed, could compete effectively for a share of the roughly 50,000 commuters per day traveling the route and enjoys the support of 70 percent of the population within the corridor.

 

Some recommendations were not expanded upon, such as the need for a streetcar along Nicholson to link LSU to downtown and help rejuvenate the corridor through transit-oriented development. Others were initiatives already well underway, such as the greenway the Downtown Development District has funded through the first two phases or the improvements to the Capital Area Transit System funded through a recently passed tax.

 

*rest of article*

http://theadvocate.com/home/5789112-125/futurebr-team-makes-recommendations

[richyb83]

E'tage Gardens set to get underway in Old Goodwood

Infrastructure work will begin later this month on E'tage Gardens, a small residential development on Government Street in the Old Goodwood neighborhood. Mike Hogstrom, a designer and developer behind the project, says he has secured financing to begin infrastructure and landscaping. He is also talking to several local builders interested in buying and developing all eight lots in the 1.4-acre development. "They are boutique builders, not volume builders," says Hogstrom. "We are also planning to do our first model home early next year." Houses in E'tage Gardens will be 2,300 square feet on average and will range in price from the upper $300,000s to the lower $400,000s. "They will have all the amenities and 12- to 14-foot ceilings," Hogstrom says, adding he has also committed to doing a significant amount of landscaping in the public right-of-way on Government Street. E'tage Gardens bills itself as a "flagship FuturEBR project," referring to the design guidelines and principles of the city's latest land-use plan. "We have received endorsements from groups like [the Center for Planning Excellence] and the [EBR Redevelopment Authority] because we modeled every element of our project off of FuturEBR," he says. "There will be a lot of walkability and green space—a small private garden that people can enjoy."

 

http://www.businessreport.com/section/daily-reportAM&date=20131004

 

Here is their website....

http://www.etagegardens.com/

 

[steve3n8]

FuturEBR architect says creating City of St. George would be 'terrible'

 

After forecasting a "very bright future" for Baton Rouge in general, urban and regional planner John Fregonese warned today of one potentially hazardous cloud on the horizon: the proposed City of St. George. "It'd be like being in a house where the parents are divorced and aren't talking to each other," said Fregonese, whose Portland-based firm authored the city-parish's master plan, FuturEBR. "It'd be terrible." Addressing the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge today, Fregonese said if successful, the effort to create the City of St. George would seriously weaken Baton Rouge's image as a strong, cohesive city for business investments such as the landmark IBM deal that was announced earlier this year. Acknowledging he understands the reasons for the proposed city, Fregonese said the financial calamity it would produce for the city-parish would jeopardize projects like the South Baton Rouge Medical District, which he calls a "tremendously powerful force" for the community. Fregonese also emphasized today the necessity for updating and simplifying the city-parish zoning code so that businesses don't have to jump through as many hoops to get their projects out of the ground. "The right thing to do needs to be the easiest thing to do," Fregonese said. In addition to the medical district, Fregonese previewed two other projects along Government Street and Nicholson Drive on the horizon that are recommended in FuturEBR. The Government project involves reconfiguring the current four-lane street into three lanes and adding sidewalks and street parking. The Nicholson plan includes implementing a two-mile streetcar track from City Club on North Boulevard to Tiger Stadium, as well as expanding Nicholson Drive from 60 to 80 feet to accommodate 10-foot sidewalks on either side. Draft plans of the two projects will be available for public review at open houses in February, Fregonese said. —Rachel Alexander

 

Businessreport.com

[buckett5425]

FuturEBR architect says creating City of St. George would be 'terrible'

 

After forecasting a "very bright future" for Baton Rouge in general, urban and regional planner John Fregonese warned today of one potentially hazardous cloud on the horizon: the proposed City of St. George. "It'd be like being in a house where the parents are divorced and aren't talking to each other," said Fregonese, whose Portland-based firm authored the city-parish's master plan, FuturEBR. "It'd be terrible." Addressing the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge today, Fregonese said if successful, the effort to create the City of St. George would seriously weaken Baton Rouge's image as a strong, cohesive city for business investments such as the landmark IBM deal that was announced earlier this year. Acknowledging he understands the reasons for the proposed city, Fregonese said the financial calamity it would produce for the city-parish would jeopardize projects like the South Baton Rouge Medical District, which he calls a "tremendously powerful force" for the community. Fregonese also emphasized today the necessity for updating and simplifying the city-parish zoning code so that businesses don't have to jump through as many hoops to get their projects out of the ground. "The right thing to do needs to be the easiest thing to do," Fregonese said. In addition to the medical district, Fregonese previewed two other projects along Government Street and Nicholson Drive on the horizon that are recommended in FuturEBR. The Government project involves reconfiguring the current four-lane street into three lanes and adding sidewalks and street parking. The Nicholson plan includes implementing a two-mile streetcar track from City Club on North Boulevard to Tiger Stadium, as well as expanding Nicholson Drive from 60 to 80 feet to accommodate 10-foot sidewalks on either side. Draft plans of the two projects will be available for public review at open houses in February, Fregonese said. —Rachel Alexander

 

Businessreport.com

 

I meant to post this story from nola.com by Richard Campanella a while back. One only needs to look at the history of New Orleans to see where this is headed.

 

"The municipality system was a spectacularly terrible idea. It wasted resources, pitted neighborhoods against each other, confused visitors and wreaked havoc on the city's bond rating.... Had the Legislature sought, by the most careful efforts, to create a war of races, to make distinction between Creole and American, they could not have chosen a better means...than the present division," wrote the Third Municipality's Daily Orleanian in 1849."

http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2013/10/new_orleans_seven_municipal_di.html

[itsjustme3]

Terrible for who exactly?

[buckett5425]

Terrible for who exactly?

 

That is for you to decide! 

[garrett_225]

In my experience, fear-mongering is usually just that--nothing but scare tactics. 

Edited November 20, 2013 by garrett_225

[itsjustme3]

That is for you to decide!

Sounds like its terrible for the master planner for Kip Holden. I'm sure the people of St. George could care less.