steve3n8

both are going to be 6 floors.

There is a Hotel planned in the Long Farm Village Development..... That would probably be the closest to Highland road and the Blue Bayou area unless they do happen to build one closer later on.

Good for city of BR! The more huge businesses that want to be annexed in BR, the less likely St George will survive! Now if they can just get the Mall of LA, Perkins Rowe, and Laberge Casino annexed that would be tremendous!

Perfect examples of Dense urban sprawl would be cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and NYC, and non dense urban sprawl would be cities like Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta... If your gonna sprawl out, atleast go dense with public transit!

Good One Richy, although this could become a reality with that building in the renderings.....maybe not the bowling ally and what not, but still going to be impressive!

I would like to see some renderings for this. I thought they mentioned this being a new elevated freeway type system...

Very sad it has to be that small and short for that HUGE parking lot Just another day in BR for now atleast!

NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!!! DREAM BIG!!!

LOL! No BR didn't have that many buildings back then........but maybe one day!!! Hopefully

Where did you hear about Audubon Alive Timelordnerd? That's awesome if its true!

Yeah id like to see Residential for that building! Next hotel should be new construction from the ground up....particularly a high rise hotel like the Marriott...

CVS purchase at Burbank and Gardere signals neighborhood's resurgence CVS has acquired a 1.7-acre tract at the intersection of Burbank Drive and Gardere Lane and plans to put a new store there, which will bring to 21 the number of CVS pharmacies in the greater Baton Rouge area. State Fuel Centers Inc. sold the property for $1.35 million, or $18.23 per square foot, in a deal that closed Wednesday. That a national drug store chain like CVS would invest at this intersection—which marks the entrance to what was once one of the city's most notoriously dangerous areas—suggests the area is on the upswing, according to local real estate agents. "I think it is turning," says Louis Barcelona Jr., of Triangle Realty, who represented the seller. "With the [L'Auberge] casino nearby, the sheriff's substation across the street and all the new road construction, the area is definitely improving." At nearby Burbank and Bluebonnet Boulevard, construction is underway on a Super Walmart and a new Sonic Drive-In. At Bluebonnet and Nicholson Drive, home construction has begun in The Preserve at Harveston, a TND. Meanwhile, L'Auberge Casino & Hotel at River Road and Gardere Lane celebrated its one-year anniversary in September. Read a Business Report cover story from February about the resurgence of the Gardere area. —Stephanie Riegel Businessreport.com Garden View Assisted Living plans expansion into B.R. market Locally operated Garden View Assisted Living hopes to help fill a need in the area by opening an assisted living facility at 3130 Jones Creek Road, says Julie Comeaux, a representative from the corporate office. "The market seems like it's the perfect market," she says. The Jones Creek facility will be Garden View's first location in Baton Rouge and third location overall. Its two other facilities are in Lafayette and New Iberia. Comeaux says the company expects to begin construction on the two-story, 64,600-square-foot development by the beginning of 2014, which would have the suite-style living facility opening by January 2015. Garden View offers a wide range of services and amenities, from personal kitchenettes and daily activities to cooked meals and a secure memory unit for patients with dementia. They have already begun to sign leases and take deposits, Comeaux says. According to the permit application recently filed with DPW, the project will cost approximately $8 million. However, Comeaux says the project is still in the process of being put out to bid and the $8 million figure may not be the final cost. —Rachel Alexander Businessreport.com

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

Project to create South Baton Rouge Medical District beginning soon The Baton Rouge Area Foundation is close to hiring a consultant team that would help East Baton Rouge Parish create a South Baton Rouge Medical District. As first laid out in broad strokes in FuturEBR, the city-parish master plan, officials hope to leverage the Bluebonnet/Perkins/Essen medical corridor as an economic driver and an important part of the city's brand. A consultant would create a plan for "attracting and retaining top-tier healthcare professionals, providing a dynamic community in which all may live and work, expanding and improving transit options serving the area, and coordinating diverse stakeholders around a shared vision of growth and economic development," according to the request for proposals. While each health care institution has its own internal plans and structure, the RFP says, they could benefit from a governance mechanism that identifies opportunities to collaborate and access tax incentives. Three finalists were interviewed last week, and representatives of the top choice will fly in Monday for a follow-up discussion, says John Spain, BRAF's executive vice president. He declined to identify the firms. Spain says two finalists "blew us away," meaning another strong option is available if a deal can't be reached with the first choice. The plan is to be delivered after 12 to 15 months at a cost of $700,000, the RFP says. —David Jacobs Businessreport.com