Spanish Town

[buckett5425]

I've been working with some property owners in Spanish Town to restore some homes in the neighborhood and direct them through the Planning Commission's, Certificate of Appropriateness, process. This morning I gave a presentation to the Historic Preservation Commission and they approved our project. The house is located at 783 Lakeland. Im working on a few other houses in Spanish Town as well. I'll give some more information as I can.

This is the PDF the Planning Commission uploaded to their website. In it you will find my design package detailing the restoration of the home.

http://brgov.com/dep...HPCAgendaHW.pdf

[Antrell Williams]

Congrats buckett.

I met some black men at Uhaul (where I work) who were just coming in from Baton Rouge, they said they worked with a Mr. Jackson I think for investing in black neighborhoods. I told him I was going to school for urban planning and he took my info and told me someone (Mr Jackson* I'm sure) might call me. Aparantly both of their names were something that I should have heard of.

Anyways, good job, would like to see the same in BT and Garden District.

[richyb83]

Yes indeed...very nice Buckett It's always good to hear about the revitalization going on! Spanish Town needed a thread of it's own...sure wish the Capitol Lofts would have gotten off ground a few blocks away.

Edited April 20, 2012 by richyb83

[Antrell Williams]

Yes indeed...very nice Buckett It's always good to hear about the revitalization going on! Spanish Town needed a thread of it's own...sure wish the Capitol Lofts would have gotten off ground a few blocks away.

The Elysian is going up. Works too.

[buckett5425]

Preis sells 5 Spanish Town properties

Developer Richard Preis has sold five Spanish Town rental properties to Lance Bennett, a well-known neighborhood property owner who plans to renovate the houses using historic tax credits. The price of the sale was not disclosed, but Preis says the properties sold to Bennett include three on North Seventh Street and two on South Capitol Drive.

http://businessreport.com/section/daily-reportAM

Finally I can say something! Lance Bennett hired me as a consultant to direct the design and aid in the historic tax credit process. It's been a lot of fun so far! Work will be commencing soon. I'll keep y'all updated when work begins.

Work has begun at 783 Lakeland and its looking great. I'll post some pictures soon.

[Antrell Williams]

http://businessrepor.../daily-reportAM

Finally I can say something! Lance Bennett hired me as a consultant to direct the design and aid in the historic tax credit process. It's been a lot of fun so far! Work will be commencing soon. I'll keep y'all updated when work begins.

Work has begun at 783 Lakeland and its looking great. I'll post some pictures soon.

Is this going to happen in Mid-City and OSBR?

[buckett5425]

Is this going to happen in Mid-City and OSBR?

Without a doubt over the next decade it will. The place I live now was full of a bunch of crack heads when my landlord bought it in 1992 and rent was $250. But he saw the potential of the neighborhood when know one else did. Now my complex is full of working professionals of all ages and its a great place to live. The same trend will continue.

[Antrell Williams]

Without a doubt over the next decade it will. The place I live now was full of a bunch of crack heads when my landlord bought it in 1992 and rent was $250. But he saw the potential of the neighborhood when know one else did. Now my complex is full of working professionals of all ages and its a great place to live. The same trend will continue.

Both neighborhoods are extremely viable to the success of our city, I hope this organization can do it's best to revitalize them.

I'm still waiting on the River Place update (biting my nails).

Edited May 16, 2012 by Antrell Williams

[buckett5425]

I've heard some good things about RiverPlace lately.

I'm actually working on two projects for OSBR through my firm. Both are speculative, but none the less show that an interest exists to redevelop the area.

[Antrell Williams]

I've heard some good things about RiverPlace lately.

I'm actually working on two projects for OSBR through my firm. Both are speculative, but none the less show that an interest exists to redevelop the area.

I'm all ears when you're clear to talk about it.

Single family projects?

[buckett5425]

I'm all ears when you're clear to talk about it.

Single family projects?

Mixed-Use!

[Ronald120]

I told him I was going to school for urban planning

What school you go to?

[Antrell Williams]

Mixed-Use!

Oh yay! I hope to do to the same in the future.

What school you go to?

I'll be going to UNO in the fall.

[richyb83]

That's cool Buckett! Good to see those lots will be used...nice consolation prize for not having the Capitol Lofts.

[cajun]

I'll be going to UNO in the fall.

I know two people who got that same degree from UNO. Solid program.

[Antrell Williams]

I know two people who got that same degree from UNO. Solid program.

Thanks for the reassurance. I may get my masters as well.

[Ronald120]

I'll be going to UNO in the fall.

Grad or ungrad?

[richyb83]

My bad Antrell...meant to comment on your Urban Planning major...that's really cool! I have always called myself an urban planner "wannabe"

[Antrell Williams]

Grad or ungrad?

Undergrad.

My bad Antrell...meant to comment on your Urban Planning major...that's really cool! I have always called myself an urban planner "wannabe"

No problem. So do I.

[XAdamX]

Are you involved with the two homes next to the complex you live in?

Care to give your neighbor a tour of what you are working on? I am in the process of helping of helping my girlfriend move up to Philadelphia with me and will be gone for good next Thursday. I'd still like to see what the plans are for the area.

[richyb83]

Located at Spanish Town Road and North 13th Street, The Elysian consists of 100 mixed-income apartments. It broke ground May 16 and is expected to be complete next summer. The four-story, 110,300-square-foot development is valued at just under $9.5 million. Elysian Development Partners is teaming with New Orleans-based Gulf Coast Housing Partnership on the project, which is also supported with funding from a number of state and local redevelopment and housing agencies. Milton J. Womack Inc. is the general contractor on the development, and Looney Ricks Kiss is the architect

http://www.businessreport.com/section/businessreport0113

[richyb83]

This was from Wednesday...wonder how the meeting went??

Exterior renovations on The Brousseau House proposed

Lance Bennett and Ben Babin, who own the Spanish Town Apartments, are appearing before the city-parish Historic Preservation Commission on Wednesday morning to ask for approval of exterior renovations on The Brousseau House at 642 State Capitol Drive. Bennett and Babin are currently renovating six rental properties in Spanish Town; the two- and three-bedroom homes each have one bathroom and rent for $1,500 to $1,800 per month. Their plans for The Brousseau House propose replacing its front and rear doors, enclosing the rear porch and raising a portion of the rear porch's roof. Bennett and Babin own 58 properties in Spanish Town. Bennett says the six properties currently under renovation all neighbor each other. "They're just going to be high-end rentals," Bennett says. The Historic Preservation Commission meets at 8:30 a.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. St. Louis St. You can see the full agenda here.

http://www.businessr...M&date=20120918

Edited September 21, 2012 by richyb83

[richyb83]

Construction underway at The Elysian...

[steve3n8]

Two Spanish Town apartment buildings to be bought in December, developer says

After nearly two years of trying to make the numbers work, developer John Schneider is finally ready to buy two historic but badly dilapidated apartment buildings in the 600 block of Spanish Town Road. Schneider says a late December closing is set for the sale of the 1920s-era buildings that were the subject of a showdown about three years ago between preservationists who fought to save them and property owner Stuart Nixon, who wanted to raze them after a fire ravaged one of the two. Schneider says the deal has taken longer than expected to come together because the price of properly restoring the architecturally significant structures is so high—even given $250,000 of state historic tax credits he is expecting to earn in the renovation process. "It will take $800,000 to renovate them, and the buildings only appraise at $650,000, so that has been the challenge," he says. "The easiest thing to do would be to tear them both down and start over." But Schneider, who has a track record of renovating historic properties downtown, says he wants to help the neighborhood and believes in the long run the risk will have been worth taking. "You hate to say this is a loss leader, but that is pretty much the approach we are taking. You are doing something that will help bring you the next project," he says. Schneider says he has two equity partners in the deal; he declined to divulge the agreed upon sale price. —Stephanie Riegel

Businessreport.com

[richyb83]

Comforting cottages...Spanish Town homes renovated to new splendor

 

Five cottages on the north side of Baton Rouge’s Spanish Town catch the eye, but not because of their size or grandeur. Once doomed to demolition, the newly landscaped and restored houses sit side by side on Seventh Street and on the corner of State Capitol Drive, sloping down a small hill toward Arsenal Park and the Capitol Lakes.

 

*rest of article

http://theadvocate.com/features/people/5561939-123/comforting-cottages