Southern University

Southern University was established in 1890 with 12 students.
In 1912 the university relocated to Scotts Bluff, overlooking the Mississippi River just north of Baton Rouge. Today it has an enrollment of over 9,000.
A few shots of the picturesque campus.

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http://www.subr.edu/

http://www.subr.edu/map/map.htm

LSU Union $54.6m expansion

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Contractors will begin moving equipment on site in a few weeks for the $54.6 million expansion and renovation of the LSU Union.

LSU officials involved in the project celebrated by holding a groundbreaking ceremony Friday at the southeast corner of the Union in the Memorial Oak Grove.

The highlight of the project, paid for by student fees, will be a four-story addition and a new entrance on the southeast corner of the Union, near Highland Road and South Campus Drive.

The addition will provide a center for student organizations and a “late-night zone” with extended hours of operation, a news release says.

Plans call for a new high-tech multi-purpose lounge area, the “Live Oak Lounge,” with a glass wall and a view of the Memorial Oak Grove. This area will replace the bowling alley on the ground floor.

LSU Union director Shirley Plakidas said the project is expected to take two to three years to complete.

It includes six phases.

Demolition in the back area of the building will occur before the end of the year.

The building should be closed only once — between Dec. 17 and Jan. 15 while students are on break between semesters, she said.

Plakidas also said that extensive planning was done to ensure that the oak trees near the Union will be protected.

No trees are being cut down, she said.

The changes include an additional 40,000 square feet and the renovation of two-thirds of the existing building.

Also included in the project are improvements to the theater, expanded seating in the Tiger Lair Food Court, improved retail space on the ground floor, additional outdoor plazas and new meeting rooms, including a tiered assembly chamber. Theater renovations include cosmetic changes to the interior, as well as improvements to lighting, acoustics and the sound system.

http://www.lsu.edu/union.

New BR Chamber headquarters - new 25-30 story tower
 

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and Commercial Properties Development Corporation are looking at moving their offices into a mixed-use building on the site of the old Advocate building downtown. Plans are in the works for a 25- to 30-story building that would serve as a "vertical neighborhood" with condominiums, retailers, office space, restaurants, parking spaces and a health club. Stephen Moret, chief executive officer of the Chamber, says the building would catalyze an entire block of downtown, as well as serving as a hub for economic development by consolidating some of the region's major players in one building. "Finally, the building would offer a substantial expansion of downtown housing -- one of the key components to continuing downtown revitalization."

Possibly another mixed-use tower for downtown BR. This new building would be close (across the street I think) to the new RiverPlace Condo building (another 30 story building).

CBD: II City Plaza

The city-parish Planning Commission approved the II City Plaza, a 17 floor, 376,000-square-foot office building to be built at Convention Street between N 4th and N 5th Streets, adjacent to the existing City Plaza on North Boulevard. It features five levels of parking adjacent to the 17-story office building. The project will be by developer Mike Wampold.

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II City Plaza

Developer Wamplod has announced that Regions Bank is rumored as the major tenant in the structure. groundbreaking could begin as early as January, 2007 with completion by late 2008.

Baton Rouge-South East: Citiplace Cambria Hotel

This is the first Cambria in BTR..........

$17 million Cambria hotel set near College/I-10

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rendering

Published: Oct 12, 2006

The Summit Group, a South-Dakota-based hotel investment company, plans to open Cambria Suites, an all-suites hotel, near College Drive and Interstate 10 by late 2007, the company said Wednesday.

Dan Hansen, executive vice president for Summit, said the $17 million, 127-room hotel will be the first in Louisiana under the Cambria brand.

He said rates will run in the $109-$119 range and amenities will include larger rooms and flat-screen TVs.

Summit currently owns three Baton Rouge hotels -- TownePlace Suites, Springhill Suites and Fairfield Inn.

RiverPlace set to begin construction
 

RiverPlace construction set to start in early '07

The RiverPlace condominium project planned for downtown is on schedule for an early 2007 groundbreaking. Developer Richard Preis says his team spent the past 10 months regrouping to assess the rapid increase in construction costs that occurred post-Katrina and Rita and re-engineering the building in an effort to keep costs down. "When you're dealing with a $70 million to $80 million project, there are a lot of moving parts," Preis says. "We want to do this slow and right." There has been no final decision on how tall RiverPlace will be; at one point the tower was set to be taller than the state Capitol. But Preis says the 119-unit development will continue to have all the amenities promised earlier, such as a pool, fitness center and clubroom. "We're going to keep the Windsor Court atmosphere," he says. The team of builders, including Manhattan Construction, has been able to reduce costs while maintaining the quality of the building, Preis says. If all goes well, RiverPlace should open by late 2008-early 2009. Says Preis, "If this was an easy project, it would have been done 25 years ago. It ain't an easy project."

W Hotel Coming to BR
 

W Hotel coming to Esplanade?

Plans for a 136-room W Hotel, which would be built at the intersection of Interstate 10 and College Drive, have been filed with the city-parish planning commission. The five-story hotel and adjoining parking garage would be built in front of Esplanade Mall in the parking area around Clicks Billiards. The mall is owned by developers Rick Hartley and David Vey.

Getting a W Hotel would style up Baton Rouge quite a bit. The chic chain targets hip, young travelers and has locations in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. There are two W Hotels in New Orleans, one on Poydras Street, the other in the French Quarter. The company has been expanding and has a hotel/condo tower in Hoboken, N.J. The developers were on the road and unavailable for comment by deadline.

Courtesy of the Baton Rouge Business Report/Daily Report

Thanks for the story Southdowns!
Here is a rendering similar to the W to be built.....

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Three Movie studios setting up stage

Louisiana took third last year behind California and New York for producing the most films in the United States, and Baton Rouge ranked third behind New Orleans and Shreveport for major productions in the year since Katrina.

In the past year or so, several major motion pictures including The Dukes of Hazzard, All the Kings Men and The Reaping have been shot around Baton Rouge. The movie industry has been lured by the tax breaks offered to film productions in the state. In turn, about $410 million in film business was done in Louisiana last year. Now, Baton Rouge is gearing up to go head-to-head in film and digital media.

Mayor Kip Holden recently called for the establishment of a film commission for Baton Rouge. “We are not putting up a storefront operation. This is a serious business, and we are going to get as much business as we can,” Holden says. “Instead of us trying to re-invent the wheel, we will be looking to local industry professionals to guide us in what we have to do to compete with anyone in the world.”

Local government officials and the selected industry professionals were expected to meet and begin planning the new film commission.

The locations, equipment and system of support needed for making films in Baton Rouge certainly is a work in progress. Soundstages, buildings designed for the unique visual and audio needs of filmmakers, are vital for attracting both big and small film productions. A soundstage is an expansive and controllable location that gives productions full control of their set, which is built inside the soundstage. Everything from commercials, infomercials, feature films and music videos are made in soundstages, which are soundproof and air-conditioned.

The Celtic Media Centre and Hooperwood Studios are two new major players in this arena. Sterling Studios has teamed up with HK Pictures and Most Wanted Films and plans to acquire a local facility to convert to a state-of-the-art soundstage.

“You don’t know what state of the art is until you’ve seen the major Hollywood studios,” says Linda Leblanc of the Celtic Media Centre. “To give us a proper perspective we visited big studios where they film Boston Legal, CSI, Commander in Chief and many other top productions. State of the art is how Hollywood is put together.”

CMC’s facility has more than 300,000 square feet of soundstage and professional facilities. It will be managed by Raleigh Studios, the largest independent soundstage in America, and operational by the spring.

But first out of the gate is Hooperwood Studios. “I don’t know what the other two soundstages are doing, but I’m sitting in my building,” says owner Roger Hooper. His studio plans to rent facilities to movie productions and to offer training programs to grow support in the jobs needed to make films in its facilities.

Joe Traigle, CEO of Sterling Studios, says his company is a self-contained, independent movie studio with complete control over script selection, post-production and marketing.

But it takes more than ready sets and soundstages to compete for serious film business. As Brad Froman of Cool Blue Pictures points out, “We need transportation, make-up trailers, film labs, major lighting and grip companies, in addition to a local insurer who specializes in the motion picture industry.” And a five-star hotel to cater to Hollywood stars.

For once, the film and digital media industry may succeed because the necessary infrastructure finally has the support of state government, big investors and industry professionals.

Rendering of the Celtic Media Centre now under construction, with Phase I first soundstage scheduled completion in April 2007. Located on 12 acres near I-12 off the Airline interchange, the $60 million complex will be completed in April, followed by six more soundstages, a millworks set construction facility, a grip and lighting warehouse, a movie office tower and an eventual 800 jobs in the next several years.

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That hotel planned by the W chain is actually not a W Hotel. W Hotel is starting an offshoot brand called The Aloft Hotel. It is a hotel that is geared towards smaller cities. Its a new concept brand and the decsription and location by the esplanade seems very similar to what that paritcular hotel concept is aiming for.

Juban Crossing

A site plan shows the layout for more than 1.2 million square feet of retail space, 385,000 square feet of medical and office space and more than 1,100 residences proposed for the Juban Crossing development along I-12 near Denham Springs in East Suburban Baton Rouge.

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DENHAM SPRINGS — The “new urbanist community” of Juban Crossing will include more than 1.2 million square feet of retail space, 385,000 square feet of medical and office space and more than 1,100 homes, developers said Wednesday.

With a mile of frontage on Interstate 12, the complex will include a movie theater, hotels, “lush water features,” plentiful parks, green space and restaurants that range from casual to fine dining, said developer Stephen Keller.

The businesses in the nearly 500-acre complex should produce more than $500 million in retail sales per year, Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer said in making Wednesday’s formal announcement of the project.

Creation of the complex should result in several thousand jobs, including more than 1,000 permanent positions upon completion, officials told the 400 people attending a Greater Denham Springs Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Juban Crossing will provide a place where people can reside, work, shop, dine and recreate. It will include townhouses, cottages and more traditional homes, developers said.

It will be situated on the north side of I-12 at the Juban Road interchange.
Construction on Juban Crossing should begin next summer.

New 8 story building for Essen Lane
 

New office building planned for Essen

Construction of an eight story, 88,000-square-foot office building off Essen Lane is set to begin early next year -- the first freestanding speculative office building to go up in that area in years. The office building will be geared toward engineering companies, medical firms, banks and other professional tenants, says Branon Pesnell of NAI Latter & Blum, who is marketing the space. The building, which will go up behinds Jacobs Engineering on Summa Avenue, should be finished by September 2008.
Spatz Development of Chicago, which is building the project, will use Gulf Opportunity Zone financing to cover the costs. Spatz recently entered the Capital Region, developing Crystal Lakes, a subdivision in Denham Springs. "Spatz is bullish on the future growth and employment along Essen," Pesnell says. "Even before Katrina, occupancy rates in that area were in the low- to mid-90% range." The price tag for building the office space is still being determined, but Pesnell says the rental rates will be $26.50 a square foot.


Courtesy of the Baton Rouge Business Report

Heres a rendering of the newest planned structure for ever-expanding Essen medical corridor:

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and a link to the story in The Advocate:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/4934176.html

live in a sculpture that has 15 floors with air rights.....

not to mention, fantastic views of the Mississippi, sunsets over the Atchafalaya and the Capitol.....

From Hays Town to innovative town

Baton Rouge may be traditional, but architects are easing the city into the modern world of design.

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Condos over Lafayette Street
Trahan Architects

Trey Trahan has designed a structure that would vault 160 feet into the air from the plaza on the Mississippi River side of the Shaw Center over Lafayette Street and land on the other side of the street.

One "strand" of the building would serve as condominiums, while the other could be used for offices, retail or museum space.

"There is nothing like this in the world," Trahan says.

Trahan has been working on the design for about a year and is in the process of getting approval from several entities--the city-parish, the state and the Shaw Center. He even has lawyers working on the air rights above Lafayette Street. Trahan owns a 30-by-70-foot piece of property that would anchor the building on the west side of Lafayette Street.

The condos will give people the opportunity to live in a sculpture overlooking the Mississippi River. The 25 condos would range from 900 to 2,500 square feet in size, and would probably end up costing between $700 and $900 per square foot to buy.

"These units have glass 360 degrees," says Trahan. "Every unit is like a penthouse."

"Connectivity" and "framing" are themes of the structure. From Tsunami, the restaurant on the roof of the Shaw Center, the proposed building would frame the Mississippi River Bridge. From the ballroom on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel, it would frame the Old State Capitol. From the doors of the Old State Capitol, the new building would frame a view upriver.

Developer releases designs for 3rd St. buildings
 

Developer releases design for Third St. buildings


Courtesy of Commercial Properties Development, Inc.

Commercial Properties Development Corp. has released the proposed designs of two buildings on the Third Street side of the Shaw Center for the Arts.

One, the Stroube’s building at Third Street and North Boulevard, would have a restaurant tenant, while the so-called “liner” building along the north side of the walkway leading into the back of the Shaw Center, would have 10,000 square feet of office space and eight apartment units.

Commercial Properties’ Camm Morton, who will show the designs to the Shaw Center’s board today, said he won’t rush into signing up a restaurant for the Stroube’s building because it has to be a “destination” restaurant unique to downtown in order to attract visitors.

Morton said work on both buildings will begin in the second quarter and will hopefully be done sometime in the fall.

Morton said the liner building will likely have one office tenant on the first floor and seven one-bedroom units and a two-bedroom unit above it.

“We’re trying to build and develop to a price that would allow 20-somethings and 30-somethings to live there,” he said, adding rents would likely be between $1,000 and $1,200 a month.

Morton said he’d like to have an office tenant signed within the next couple of months.

The final piece of the puzzle will be to knock down the Onyxx building at Third and Convention streets and build a six- to eight-story building that would include retail and restaurant development and up to 25 residential units, possibly for sale. That phase would come after the Stroube’s and liner buildings are done.

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Thank yall both for doing a fantastic job with the Baton Rouge thread. So much construction going on all over the city 2007 is an exciting time!

Still awaiting word on how many stories the new 19th Judicial Courthouse will be. Orginal renderings show 9 floors; but it will be between 10 and 12.
II City Plaza will have nice lighting at night; unlike the other office high-rises in the CBD.And the Shaw Arts Block with adjoining North Boulevard Town Square will dramatically change the streetscape of the southern-end of the CBD!

Perkins Rowe is coming along nicely too.

Keep up the great work!!!

Pinnacle Resort

Pinnacle Entertainment has filed a petition with the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, requesting that it be allowed to move a riverboat casino license from Lake Charles to East Baton Rouge Parish and set up a resort on River Road. There have been reports that Pinnacle plans to build a 750-room hotel to go along with the casino resort that would offer a menu of amenities, including restaurants, spas, bowling, tennis, golf and big-name entertainment acts.

As expected, the two existing casinos have began a series of "public relations' ads and polls, resulting that one of them would have to go if the new Pinnacle resort were allowed to open, concluding the new casino was not in the best interest of the citizens of the region.

site of proposed casino

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renderings of the proposed resort

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Just this week the two existing casinos, the Belle of Baton Rouge and the Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge announced their own plans. The Belle is proposing a new boat, double its current size perpendicular and closer to the levee along with a nine level parking structure. Adjacent to the Hollywood casino on the north end of the CBD, a developer is proposing a mixed-use development on the Mississippi to include 800 to 1,200 residential units, 300,000 to 600,000 sq ft of commercial space, and possibly a hotel.

Hmmm, to be continued.....

Thanks for the updates as always! Are there any updated Perkins Rowe photos?

The Palms on Third

A New Orleans-area developer has big plans for downtown Baton Rouge, including a mixed-use building at the corner of Third and Laurel Streets that will include apartments, retailers--including a grocery store--and a big-band nightclub.

The ultimate goal is to turn the old Commerce Building into The Palms on Third, a South Beach/Las Vegas vibe with a mix of residential, retail and nightclub space.

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In the meantime, Marcello plans to open two smaller clubs to stimulate interest and give potential investors an idea of how much business there is downtown.

The first will be the Third Street Daiquiri Company, a French Quarter-style daiquiri bar with a tropical theme. The bar, which will open in the next 30 to 45 days, will be by D'Agostino's Restaurant.

The second club will be Huey P.'s Speakeasy. Marcello says he's working on acquiring the property, somewhere downtown. The plan is for the club to have a plain storefront and just people in the know will know where it