BATON ROUGE | and environs

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19th Judicial Court House

The New Orleans Division of Walton Construction Company, LLC will break ground on a new Baton Rouge courthouse on Wednesday.

The $89 million courthouse will be built from the ground up, rising 11 stories and totaling 325,000 square feet. Construction is scheduled to be complete by December 2009. The facility will include 26 courtrooms, judges' chambers, jury assembly space for more than 300 people, a dining facility, and administration offices.

The new 19th Judicial Courthouse will be built on the site of the current municipal building parking lot. The building will rise above North Boulevard and will be on direct axis with the State Capitol Building on the opposite (north) end of Fourth Street. The building, as designed by Post Architects, will be an illuminated glass and concrete structure that will create a beacon at the foot of Fourth Street.

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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

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Casino Riviere


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.

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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]

Baton Rouge and Louisiana home prices buck national trend

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.

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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

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http://riverviewbr.com/developers.cfm

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LSU / LIGO: Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

LSU partners with Washington State, Cal Tech and MIT labs in solving galactic riddle

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory facilities north of east-suburban Livingston along with its' sister facilities in Hanford, Washington state, searching the heavens for never-before-detected gravitational waves have helped astrophysicists narrow down the cause of a massively bright explosion in deep space observed last winter.

The facilities span an area five miles wide in the piney woods of suburban Baton Rouge..........







photos courtesy of LIGO website.

link to story in theadvocate:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/sci...l?index=18&c=y

link to website:http://www.ligo-la.caltech.edu/

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The Settlement at Willow Grove is being carved from the historic Kleinpeter farm on Perkins Road. The 111-acre settlement will offer quaint retail shopping, a network of 10 parks including a 14-acre linear park.





renderings courtesy of and link to the website: http://www.willowgrovehomes.com/thesettlement.cfm

[fla_tiger]

Americana

Americana, the sprawling, 415-acre traditional neighborhood development proposed for fast growing north-suburban Zachary, is set to go before the city-parish Planning Commission on Jan. 22, according to notices filed.

Shearwater Communities bought the tract at La. 64 and Mount Pleasant-Zachary Road in September for $15.5 million.

Pending approval, Americana would offer more than 1,400 residential units, more than 400,000 square feet of commercial retail space and 70,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Shearwater officials, who were not immediately available Friday, have said construction could take at least 15 years to complete and could top $1 billion in total investment.


renderings courtesy of and link to webpage: http://www.americanatnd.com/

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Rouzon
off Perkins opposite Moss Side

At their meeting last Wednesday, the City/Parish council approved the latest TND for Baton Rouge, Rouzon. This came despite the many voices of protest from neighboring Southdowns residents.

Rouzon, website....http://www.rouzan.net/index.html
is being developed by JTS interests, builders of the recently opened, but already extremely popular Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge; the Lakes at Cinco Ranch and Watermarke in Houston, Texas; and Citiplace in Baton Rouge.

some renderings from JTS....

[fla_tiger]

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World

Coupled with the Cabela's which opened last October south on I-10, Baton Rouge is one of only seven cities nationwide with both stores.

STORE OPENS FEBRUARY 7TH



Denham Springs, Louisiana (January 29th, 2008)--Bass Pro Shops, recently voted the #1 outdoor retailer in America by Sporting Goods Business Magazine, will celebrate its 48th store's Grand Opening beginning at 8:00 AM Thursday, February 7th and continuing through Sunday, February 10th. The new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World will include an Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant and is located at I-12 and Range Avenue.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...eID=13#gallery

nation's largest Bass Pro will anchor 75 acre mixed-use development, Lakefront Centre

[fla_tiger]

Skinny Giraffe Film Studios

......the story in the Advocate incorrectly refers to it as a dairy farm. It is located on (the old) Plank Rd at Choctaw. This large historical building has been vacant since who knows when and when complete will be perfect for this use. It will also put some much needed energy into the old NBR community. The film company is making a huge presence in BR, joining with three other film studios wanting to be part of "Hollywood South".

Skinny Giraffe Films, the Baton Rouge film-production company, said Wednesday it could have a deal in place within the next month to buy an old dairy farm in north Baton Rouge that would be converted to a $10 million film studio.

Kirk Kepper of Skinny Giraffe said the 150,000-square-foot creamery near Choctaw Drive and Interstate 110 is owned by the Claitor family and dates back to the 1920s.

Kepper said his company plans to refurbish the main building and transform it to a film production facility.

“We’ll probably be finalized within the next month,” he said. “There’s a few things to iron out, but we are 100 percent going forward with this."

Some of their releases are The Way of War, which starred Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr, Trance a horror movie that's headed to the Berlin International Film Festival in February (2008) and The American Standards (2007) starring James Brolin.

Local rapper Lil' Boosie also shot a music video in the dairy.

http://www.skinnygiraffefilms.com/home.html

[fla_tiger]

Celtic Media Centre, BR's first film studio continues to expand with its fourth production building, meanwhile work getting underway soon on BR's two newest film studios.







Celtic Media Centre will begin work soon on its fourth building at the film and television production facility it opened near Bluebonnet Boulevard and Airline Highway in October.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/15898342.html

http://www.thecelticmediacentre.com/

[fla_tiger]

Woman's Hospital



Woman’s Hospital unveiled renderings of its new campus to be built on the site of Briarwood Golf Course at Airline Highway and Pecue Lane. The new facility will consist of three buildings: a 300-bed hospital, a 260,000-square-foot medical office building and 69,105 square feet of support services facilities. The budget for the project is approximately $299 million, and a grand opening is set for 2011.
Rendering and story courtesy of BR Business Report

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LED Building



The new office building/parking garage would be between Fifth and Sixth streets, north of Lakeland Drive, south of Arsenal Park and just southeast of the Capitol, and would most likely house Louisiana Economic Development. If funding can be secured from the legislature's Capital Outlay fund, requests for bids could go out this calendar year after the start of the next fiscal year in July.
rendering and story courtesy of BR Business Report

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By CHAD CALDER
Advocate business writer
Published: Apr 9, 2008 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.
Comments (0)
Print Email Save Share Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Reddit Mike Wampold’s II City Plaza, the 12-story, 260,000-square-foot office building anchored by Regions Bank and Phelps Dunbar, should be completed by January, with the adjoining parking garage opening in the fall.

Ted Terrell of Wampold Companies told the Downtown Development District commission Tuesday the parking garage will have 650 spaces and should open in August. He said Regions and Phelps Dunbar should begin their build-outs in September and finish in time for the opening.

He said plans still call for some retail on the ground floor, including some kind of food service, a dry cleaner and a coffee shop.

Another nearby project, Oneleven, is on track after a slow start, said Michael Lang of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Lang said the four-story building, on the north side of the Third Street entrance to the Shaw Center for the Arts, should be ready by this fall, offering 11 apartments and 4,000 square feet of office and retail space.

Lang said the goal is to have the restaurant planned for the former Stroube’s building at Third and North Boulvard, Stroube’s Chop House, open by the end of the year.

Also, members of the Downtown Development District board said they will hold a meeting next week to discuss what the DDD and the Entertainment District committee can do to prevent violent incidents downtown in the wake of a fracas two weekends ago.

Police were called in to clear a portion of Third Street early that Sunday morning after the bars closed and a private party let out. A car playing loud music blocked the street.

When officers tried to move things along, a confrontation broke out and an electric stun gun was used on the driver.

Derrell Cahoon, a board member and chairman of the entertainment district committee, said the public meeting will be at 5 p.m. April 17 at Chenevert Architects’ building, 232 Third St.

Rhorer said there are things the city-parish, the DDD and the district can do to provide more security and use things such as street closures to prevent disturbances.

Also, the DDD hired James Andermann as development program director to head up the office’s efforts when involved in developments such as Galvez Plaza and the long-planned riverfront park.

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King Hotel renovation to begin downtown

Cyntreniks Group will begin the renovation downtown of the King Hotel later this spring and plans to have it finished 14 months after the start date.

Brace Godfrey, who owns Cyntreniks with John Schneider, said that while there has been some environmental work on the site, construction will begin in “weeks, not months” on the $11 million project.

The boutique hotel will have 101 rooms on floors two through seven, including eight in the penthouse suite, Godfrey said, adding the King will have fewer rooms than the 120 it had in its previous incarnation to allow for bigger rooms.

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Albemarle Corporation, Fortune 1000, moving HQ's to Baton Rouge

Specialty chemical maker Albemarle Corp. is moving its headquarters from Richmond, Va., to Baton Rouge, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Wednesday.

Albemarle already employs several hundred people in the state. Jindal said the move would help secure those jobs and bring in 30 new jobs with a minimum $7 million payroll.

"This is one of many positive steps that will help us grow and diversify our economy, said Jindal, who noted that his wife Supriya, an engineer, once worked for the company.

The company's products are used for consumer electronics, petroleum and chemical processing, transportation and industrial products, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and construction and packaging materials. Albemarle has customers in about 100 countries.

Albemarle president and CEO Mark Rohr and chief operating officer John Steitz praised Jindal, state Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret, Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden and credited a well-coordinated state and local effort to get the corporation to consolidate its executive and administrative offices in Baton Rouge.

Steitz said Moret, who joined Jindal's cabinet this year after heading the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce, began working on the effort to bring the corporate headquarters to Baton Rouge about 18 months ago.

"He was the genesis of the idea. He incubated it. He developed it," Steitz said.

Rohr said special legislative sessions that Jindal called for ethics and tax relief also encouraged the corporation to make the move. "As the governor came in, it became an easy decision," Rohr said of Jindal, who took office in January.

link: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/...ap4955698.html

link:Richmond Times Dispatch: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.a...4-30-0215.htmllink:Richmond Times Dispatch: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.a...4-30-0215.html

[richyb83]

New downtown mixed-use development unveiled

Developer Pete Clements has unveiled details of River Park, his planned $600 million mixed-use development near Hollywood Casino on the north side of downtown Baton Rouge.

Clements said River Park, first discussed about a year ago, is a 10- to 15-year project that will ultimately include a 280-room, major flag hotel, an extended-stay hotel, 800 to 1,200 residential units, 250,000 square feet of retail space, 650,000 square feet of office space, 6,000 parking spaces and a 600-seat amphitheater along the riverfront.

Mayor Kip Holden, who introduced the project at the Downtown Development District meeting this morning, said the project will add the equivalent of 10-12 new city blocks to downtown and is a “new vision for the northern Mississippi riverfront.”

Holden said the development will create 200 to 300 construction jobs for the life of the project, 600-800 full-time jobs and 150-200 part-time jobs.

Access to River Park would be provided by a four-lane underpass under the railroad tracks that parallel the Mississippi River, the first part of the development to begin.

Clements said work on the underpass should begin in the third quarter of this year and be completed by the end of 2009. He said plans will be filed with the Planning and Zoning Commission later this week, and building permits will be filed sometime after.

Clements said that, when he started talking to people more than two years ago, it was difficult to get anyone interested in retail and residential development downtown. Now, however, the development is attracting enough interest from retailers that he had to change the plans to accommodate them. No tenants have been signed yet, he said.

“We’ve had a lot of interest,” he said. The main attraction, he said, has been the uniqueness of the development and the 1,500 feet of riverfront.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/18891904.html