Baton Rouge Development

[fla_tiger]

Cabela's to open this fall

Destination superstore could attract up to 3 million visitors, becoming one of state's top tourist attractions





layout of adjacent Sportsman's Park Shopping

Cabela's®, known as the World's Foremost Outfitter® of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, will open its newest destination retail store in Gonzales, La., on Friday, October 5, 2007. The store, Cabela's first in Louisiana, is the company's 21st retail location in the country. The company's first location in Louisiana, the 175,000-square-foot, large-format destination store is located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans at the intersection of I-10 and La 30. It will have a 49,000 gallon walk-through aquarium, a wildlife museum, running waterfalls and a trout pond. The store is expected to hire nearly 400 employees.

Meanwhile in east suburban Denham Springs, competitor Bass Pro expects to open a similar megastore for outdoors enthusiasts before the end of the year.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070806/aqm102.html?.v=15

[LouisianaRush]

Fantastic now our Rednecks have a place to shop!

[KevinFromTexas]

^ Hey, Cabelas kicks ass. Don't worry, though, I'm not the hunting outdoorsy type, I'm the fishing outdoorsy type.

[fla_tiger]

Blue Cross Blue Shield



Construction of a new $33 million, 136,000sq ft office building and parking garage at its corporate campus opposite I 10 from the Mall of Louisiana off Blue Cross Pkwy. Estimated completion is December 2008.

http://www.lablue.com/web/reddotcm/html/20_374.asp

[fla_tiger]

another rendering of the 19th Judicial District Courthouse now under construction on the south side od the CBD.........

[fla_tiger]

Pinnacle’s 'Riviere' project receives Gaming Board OK
Tuesday, September 18, 2007


article, rendering courtesy of BR Business Report
http://www.businessreport.com/news/2...sino-approved/

The Louisiana Gaming Board has approved Pinnacle Entertainment's request to transfer a casino license from Lake Charles to Baton Rouge and build a resort on River Road called Riviere, which is French for river. The first stage, which still must be approved by voters, will include a 70,000 square foot riverboat casino, called Casino Riviere, with about 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games, along with restaurants, an entertainment venue with about 1,000 seats, and a 100-room hotel, Pinnacle says. They say the $250 million project will create 1,100 direct jobs with a $33 million payroll. The project next goes to the Metro Council, which would be responsible for setting the date for the voter referendum. Pinnacle hopes for a vote in February. The gambling boat the centerpiece of a massive entertainment/retail/residential complex with a golf course on more than 550 acres around River Road and Gardere Lane. Although there is no timeline for the next phase and approval of Phase One does not legally commit Pinnacle to the larger project.

[fla_tiger]

Every city has its' list of "never built' projects.
Featured as part of its' 25th Anniversary Edition, the Baton Rouge Business Report ran an interesting section titled "Fruitless Renderings" identifying larger projects that never "came to be, for now".
All I can say is, "if only!"
the link to their special edition: http://www.businessreport.com/print-...007/sep/25/15/
the link to this section: http://www.businessreport.com/news/2...derings-rlet1/
Kudos to the BBBR for the renderings.....

Centre Regency
This 30-story luxury hotel, to be built near Interstate 10 and Bluebonnet Boulevard, was slated to cost more than $150 million



City dock complex
A planned a $4 million, 35,000-square-foot restaurant/office complex on the city dock just south of the Interstate 10 bridge. The three-story complex was to have two restaurants on the first floor and office spaces on the second and third floors.



Eskan Group twin towers
An Egyptian motif would have been appropriate in the apartments in this twin-tower retirement community development to be built on Lee Drive by the Eskan Group. The towers were to house one- and two-bedroom luxury condominiums.



Laurel Tower
Rick Hartley and David Vey planned a 26-story, 752,000-square-foot tower they said was going to reinvent the downtown mind-set. The building was to take up an entire city block between River Road and Lafayette Street and Florida and Laurel streets.



Fidelity Bank Tower
Plans for the $50 million, 30-story office tower was to have 500,000 square feet of office space, covering an entire city block.



River House condominiums
The 15-story condominiums were supposed to offer high-rise living accommodations downtown. The Schild-Eaton development was expected to be open in 1987.



Riverside Towers
Construction was expected to begin in the fall of 1986 on twin 23-story buildings adjacent to the Centroplex. One building was to be a hotel, and the other was set to be an office complex



Post some of your city's never-builts.

[fla_tiger]

Rouzan


Image provided by JTS Interests

A public library would accompany residential, retail and office space, as well as a school and church, in the Rouzan neighborhood, which developer Tommy Spinosa says would be built over about five years.
Fords Pasture is off Perkins Rd between Southdowns and Pennington Biomedical Research.
link to the story in theadvocate
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/10446532.html

[fla_tiger]

Turner Industries plans new training and recruiting facility

Notes of note:

> Turner Industries, headquartered in Baton Rouge is one of the world's largest industrial contractors with more than 15,000 employees world-wide.

> This is another in the increasing "campus style" developments along I-10 south of the Essen Medical corridor.

Turner Industries bought a 2.4-acre tract Wednesday south of Interstate 10 near the Highland Road interchange. Sales records show the industrial contractor paid $1.5 million for the land on Highlandia Drive. The seller is listed as the Chandamuri family.

Thomas Turner, vice chairman of Turner Industries, said Thursday that construction will begin in the spring on a 20,000-square-foot facility and should be complete by late 2008.

In August, Turner Industries was one of nine local companies named to Inc. magazine’s list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The magazine pegged the company’s annual revenue at $1.4 billion.

Turner said architect Tray Trahan is handling the new building’s design.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/10964476.html

[fla_tiger]

another rendering of the new Basketball Practice Facility on the north side of the PMAC. Construction will start in the Spring.

rendering courtesy of the Reveille



http://media.www.lsureveille.com/med...-3080689.shtml

[fla_tiger]

Developer considers 75-seat hall in renovated Kress building

By CHRIS GAUTREAU
Advocate business writer
Published: Nov 14, 2007

Cyntreniks Group said Tuesday it is considering building a 75-seat theater in its Kress at Third & Main project, the renovated Kress/Welsh & Levy/Knox building downtown.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/11261726.html

The BR CBD has not had a theatre since the late 70's, when we had three.

[fla_tiger]

Fresh Market opening Dec. 5

AP Business
Published: Nov 16, 2007

The Fresh Market, the upscale grocery store recently built in Perkins Rowe, will open at 9 a.m. Dec. 5.

The new store will be the second Louisiana location for The Fresh Market, presently open in Mandeville on New Orleans Northshore, with another opening soon in Lafayette. Founded in 1982 in Greensboro, N.C., its grocery stores are modeled after old-world European markets. Each store features an old-style butcher counter, fresh seafood selection, an aromatic bakery and selection of garden-fresh produce, according to a press release from the company.

The Perkins Rowe store, at 10555 Perkins Road near Bluebonnet, will employ about 90.

http://www.thefreshmarket.com

[fla_tiger]

Riverview, a new TND on the Westside

Located at the western foot of the Mississippi River bridge, Riverview is less than 5 minutes from downtown.

http://riverviewbr.com/location.cfm

[fla_tiger]

BR and Louisiana home prices buck national trend in third quarter

AP Business
Business Today Newsletter

Published: Nov 29, 2007

Baton Rouge and the state bucked the trend in a report showing home prices nationwide marked a quarterly decline for the first time in 13 years in the third quarter, providing fresh evidence of the housing market slump.

Home prices dipped 0.4 percent nationwide in the July-September period, compared with the previous quarter, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said.

Baton Rouge was one of the more healthy markets. The report said home prices increased 1.3 percent from the previous quarter, which ranked No. 21 among all metropolitan areas nationwide.

The Baton Rouge market is up 7.4 percent from the third quarter of 2006.

Louisiana, meanwhile, saw prices increase statewide about 1.2 percent from the previous quarter and 5.4 percent from the year-ago period, according to the report.

According to OFHEO’s data, many of the cities and states experiencing the sharpest declines in the quarter were the same areas that had posted the sharpest increases a couple of years ago during the housing boom.

[fla_tiger]

LaVie

I-12/O’Neal development plan set for meeting

AP Business
Business Today Newsletter

Published: Nov 29, 2007

A mixed-use development anchored by a movie studio near Interstate 12 and O’Neal Lane and originally touted at $1.6 billion will go before the city-parish Planning and Zoning Commission on Dec. 10.

La Vie, on 995 acres bounded by I-12, O’Neal, S. Harrell’s Ferry and the Amite River, is the newest project from developer R.W. Day.

It would have 875 single-family lots on 145 acres, or 15 percent of the site, and 650 residential units on 97 acres, or about 10 percent of the site, according to plans filed with the planning commission.

The development would also have 3 million square feet of commercial space on 184 acres, or about 19 percent of the property.

Word of the project first broke at the Red Stick Animation Festival this spring, when Chuck Bush, owner of the production company, Resurgent Entertainment, said he would locate his offices there.

The plans provide no details on the studio, but Bush has said it would include sound stages and a film and video production training facility.

Day will have to submit further details on the project if the requested zoning change from rural to planned unit development is granted by the commission next month and the Metro Council on Jan. 16.

The plans indicate access to the project will come from O’Neal Lane at Medical Center Drive and a planned extension of S. Harrell’s Ferry. It also mentions the possibility of a new exit off of I-12, just east of the O’Neal
interchange.

link to extensive presentation of this massive development>>>>>>>>>.
http://www.rwdayonline.com/uploads/R...esentation.swf

[fla_tiger]

BR Area Chamber mapping system combines features of 9 parish region to pinpoint best location for business!

"Not to merely see the traditional maps of towns and rivers and parish boundaries.

But to see where floodplains are, to see where navigable streams are, to know how the proximity of churches and schools and houses and roads might influence a manufacturer’s interest in a property.

In general, the closer to ports, railroads, multilane highways and major utilities, the better for manufacturers and distributors. Proximity to dense residential areas, schools, churches and other public places can raise red flags for safety and security reasons.

Having a single map find all those assets and liabilities - in exactly the framework a business wants to see it - can be a gold mine for parishes courting industry. A custom map can weigh all the features that interest a company at different percentages of importance, then color code the parish to identify the strongest sites.

[B]link to story in advocate>B]url]http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/11972811.html[/url]

[fla_tiger]

Construction has started on the first unit in Westmoreland Place, an upscale residential development in Mid City. The units will sell for between $870,000 and $1.1 million. Thornton, Harvison and Rhodes Real Estate is developing Westmoreland Place, which will be built at the corner of Broussard and Westmoreland. Ritter/Mayer Architects designed the complex and Key Design and Build is the contractor.

[fla_tiger]

Acme Oyster House coming to Perkins Road: Acme Oyster House, the legendary New Orleans seafood restaurant, is scheduled to open its first Baton Rouge location next summer as part of the redeveloped Acadian Village Shopping Center.

[fla_tiger]

Artist rendering provided by LSU Office of Facility Development

A rendering of the new $63 million Business Education Complex LSU hopes to begin building this summer.

LSU hopes to begin construction this summer on a new $63 million Business Education Complex consisting of a centerpiece four-floor rotunda, two rows of classroom buildings and a large auditorium.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/12297991.html

[fla_tiger]

Bluebonnet hotel rebrands into Hyatt Place

A $3 million renovation has turned the AmeriSuites hotel at Bluebonnet Boulevard and Interstate 10 into Hyatt Place. Sherry Gomez, director of sales, says the hotel is being rebranded as part of a companywide effort. The renovations included remodeling all 126 guest rooms, equipping them with contemporary furnishings and high-definition TVs, adding self-check in kiosks and offering 24-hour dining, including beer and wine. "We created a new hotel inside an old building," Gomez says. "They stripped everything down to the studs and concrete." The Bluebonnet location was the 80th hotel to be renovated as part of an effort by Hyatt to bring in more upscale business travelers; the Chicago-based chain is transforming more than 140 hotels into its new Hyatt Place concept. It took about two and a half months to complete the overhaul. --Timothy Boone GBR Bus Report