Baton Rouge Photo of the Day

[byrde]

The Crecent Condos are looking good.

http://www.crescent-condos.com/

[richyb83]

Yes they are Bryde. That's a big complex too; that goes way out the pic. That location along the lake needed something nice like those condo's. I still can't believe the nearby neighborhood fought this for so long.

Hey Bryde, is that a special zoom lense on your camera?? Those pics from the Port Allen side are fantastic! Like that last pic too with the Chase Towers. I sure wish they would renovate/make-over the nearly twin 8-story Commerce bldg. & Capital One on Third Street.

If you insist?? And older pic(October) pre-crane shot; similar to another pic I took.

When completed, the new Courthouse and II City Plaza will look nice from this angle.

[byrde]

Yes they are Bryde. That's a big complex too; that goes way out the pic. That location along the lake needed something nice like those condo's. I still can't believe the nearby neighborhood fought this for so long.

Hey Bryde, is that a special zoom lense on your camera?? Those pics from the Port Allen side are fantastic! Like that last pic too with the Chase Towers. I sure wish they would renovate/make-over the nearly twin 8-story Commerce bldg. & Capital One on Third Street.

If you insist?? And older pic(October) pre-crane shot; similar to another pic I took.

When completed, the new Courthouse and II City Plaza will look nice from this angle.

The lense is a 70-210 macro. I've had it for over 20 years.

[dan326]

Those look amazing! Much better than the rendering.

[twstdndmntd]

The lense is a 70-210 macro. I've had it for over 20 years.

But the thing is from this angle with II City Plaza and the new Courthouse they will block out the Chase Towers. We need to find an angle that is just right where we are able to get the Capital, One American Plaza, Chase Towers, II City Plaza and the new Courthouse. If we can do that we might be able to make the skyline look bulky. It's really all about the angle that you take it. I saw a pic one nite on WAFB that they had taken from the Port Allen side but further down by the Old Bridge. The skyline looked really nice and full.

[byrde]

I've driven along river road on the Port Allen side looking for a decent spot. It is not easy to get a good one due to the tree's and residences. I'm going to try again in a few weeks.

[twstdndmntd]

I've driven along river road on the Port Allen side looking for a decent spot. It is not easy to get a good one due to the tree's and residences. I'm going to try again in a few weeks.

Yeah I couldn't tell you where or how they got the shot they did but it looked really nice.

[byrde]

A sign I found interesting. You will only see it if you are on the river.

[byrde]

Fieldhouse Condominiums

[twstdndmntd]

Wow the Field House is extremely nice. I love that. I'm just lame I guess but I love the whole French Quarter look. I know alot of people say it's over done but I will always love it..

[dan326]

I like the real French Quater,but reproductions usually come out looking cheap. I think the contemporary elements mixed in with this is what saved it from the junk pile.

[twstdndmntd]

I like the real French Quater,but reproductions usually come out looking cheap. I think the contemporary elements mixed in with this is what saved it from the junk pile.

Yeah I agree with you on that. But I have seen some nice reproductions of the French Quarter. Granted they are on very small scales but they are nice. They have some nice ones on Sherwood Forest where Capital City Grill is. I think if we would do a large area similar to the size of Perkins Rowe, but downtown I think it would go over quite well.

[cajun]

Fieldhouse Condominiums

Wow. The brick on that second one from the right looks really ugly.

The rest looks pretty good though....maybe a little too much yellow.

If I were going to live there, I'd want an LSU view with a really big balcony. I am surprised they didn't put more balconys like that corner unit.

Edited January 18, 2008 by cajun

[cajun]

Some things about this are nice, other things, like keeping that crappy old light pole out front, are really cheap touches.

The city needs to move those things to the median if they are so desperately needed.

I also think that a traffic light at Aster street would help the neighborhood. It's a dangerous intersection, and if they can slow traffic down it will be safer and probably help out the retail stores in the area.

I like the real French Quater,but reproductions usually come out looking cheap. I think the contemporary elements mixed in with this is what saved it from the junk pile.

It's possible, but I've never seen it done on a large scale that came out well.

Edited January 18, 2008 by cajun

[byrde]

Victory

[richyb83]

Thanks for the pics Bryde! I really dig the Victory Commons architecture and the bell tower. Light up at night it makes for a nice focal point as an entrance into LSU from Nicholson. Having The Fieldhouse directly across the street only enhances the gateway look into LSU. Those balconies on the corner units are sweet! The gold/yellow color compliments LSU. I guess they just wanted to mix things up. That other section is kinda ugly.

[dan326]

Yeah I agree with you on that. But I have seen some nice reproductions of the French Quarter. Granted they are on very small scales but they are nice. They have some nice ones on Sherwood Forest where Capital City Grill is. I think if we would do a large area similar to the size of Perkins Rowe, but downtown I think it would go over quite well.

I gues they are O.K., but they stil look too plain/fake. The worst reproduction I've ever seen though is the "Orleans Plaza" on Florida Boulevard.

[twstdndmntd]

I gues they are O.K., but they stil look too plain/fake. The worst reproduction I've ever seen though is the "Orleans Plaza" on Florida Boulevard.

I think the reason they look "plain/fake" is b/c they are such a small scale. Like I said if it were a larger development with more of them they wouldn't look so "plain". You can't just do a strip of them and expect it to be nice, so to speak. I think they would have a totally different look to them if there were at least a 4 block radius of them.

[richyb83]

Here is one of Perkins Rowe I did not post

[byrde]

Lovin' those palm trees at Perkins Rowe.

[NCB]

Love the shot of Perkins Rowe, Richy! Next time I'm in Baton Rouge I really want to stop and check it out.

I gues they are O.K., but they stil look too plain/fake. The worst reproduction I've ever seen though is the "Orleans Plaza" on Florida Boulevard.

Interestingly enough, the city with the most French Quarter reproductions is....New Orleans. You won't find the modern buildings with cheap "wrought iron" balconies and galleries thrown on, but they're still scattered around the CBD, especially in the Warehouse District, where they were added to the numerous converted warehouse lofts/apartments in the Warehouse District in the 1980's and '90's, and continue to be added on new condo buildings today. I don't like fake French Quarter reproductions in any city, but I can kind of deal with them if some effort is actually put into the design. The Fieldhouse Apartments reproduction is probably the best I've seen in Baton Rouge, which is home to many of the worst FQ reproductions I've ever seen. Still, I'd much rather see these developers, in any city, come up with modern and interesting designs rather than just copy the French Quarter...there's just no creativity in that.

[dan326]

Victory

Those look great. They look like something from Miami or the Southwest.

[dan326]

Here are some skyline picks I took on Google SketchUp.

I added the River Park project, and a second tower for RiverPlace.

Edited January 23, 2008 by dan326

[richyb83]

You got skillz Dan I sure appreciate your hard work! Wish I had the time and know how; this is good stuff! I could pull it off with some tutoring assistance

That's one spread-out skyline! Wow! River Park is way back there! That's a nice cluster of buildings in the southern CBD with the massive new Courthouse and II City Plaza from the bridge angle. Throw in the possible two buildings at the old Advocate site next to River Place; the skyline sure will be filing up.

>>Now Going Up Downtown<<

*II City Plaza 12 or 13-stories??? ....DDD's website is claiming 13 for some reason; Wampold told me 12

*New Courthouse 12-stories

And >>Hopefully???

RiverPlace 30- stories; or 27 stories with 14-17 story hotel??

River Park condo 15-16 stories?? more to come?

Old Advocate Site (two mixed-use) 10-12 stories

Onyxx bldg. 6 to 8-stories??

Edited January 23, 2008 by richyb83

[buckett5425]

Great rendering dan. Personally, I hate sketch up, I can never make it do what i need it to. Its awesome that you seemed to have mastered it. I did notice one thing with your rendering though. Do you have the heights of Chase Tower and Riverside North backwards?