SLIDELL, LA. — Doster Construction Co. has commenced construction on the Springs of Fremaux Town Center in Slidell, roughly 33 miles north of New Orleans on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain. The new community will be part of the new Fremaux Town Center mixed-use development. Ranging from studios to three bedrooms, the asset will feature a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, resort-style pool, 24-hour fitness center, business center, dog park, pet spa, car care center and attached and detached garages. The project team includes developer Continental Properties Co. Inc. and architect Phillips Partnership.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — KTGY Group Inc. and Baton Rouge-based JTS are planning to develop Rouzan Village in Baton Rouge. The project will feature 80,000 square feet of retail space anchored by a 33,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and up to 220 residential units including live/work studios. Rouzan Village will be the commercial and retail center of Rouzan, a 120-acre master-planned development in Baton Rouge’s Southdowns neighborhood near the intersection of Perkins Road and Glasgow Avenue. Two parking structures and street parking will provide parking for roughly 900 cars. The theater is expected to begin construction next year and open in mid-2016. Rouzan Village’s residential component is expected to break ground in mid-2015 and take approximately 14-18 months to complete.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — IBM has topped off its new nine-floor technology center under construction in downtown Baton Rouge that will cost $30.5 million to develop. The technology center, which will reportedly create 800 jobs, is part of a $55 million urban development project that will also feature 525 Lafayette, a 10-story residential tower. Commercial Properties Realty Trust, a REIT, is building the urban development project and Wilbur Marvin Foundation will own it. The property is scheduled for completion in May 2015. The topping off ceremony was attended by Gov. Bobby Jindal, IBM vice president Tim McLachlan, Baton Rouge Area Foundation president and CEO John Davies and Louisiana Economic Development (LED) secretary Stephen Moret. LED offered IBM a performance-based incentive package that includes grants totaling $29.5 million over 12 years.
COVINGTON, LA. — Stirling Properties has brokered the sale of three retail centers in Louisiana and Alabama totaling $15.2 million. The three properties include a CVS in Baton Rouge, La., that sold for approximately $4.8 million; the Conn’s-anchored Park Plaza in Lake Charles, La., that sold for $6 million; and the 42,257-square-foot Woodmere Crossing in Montgomery, Ala., that sold for $4.4 million. A private New York-based investor purchased the CVS in Baton Rouge from a private Louisiana-based investor in a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. Patrick Luther and Matthew Mousavi of Faris Lee Investments assisted in the sale. A private investor based in Houston purchased Park Plaza from Weingarten Realty Investors. The property was 40 percent vacant at the time of sale. BV Belk Properties purchased Woodmere Crossing via auction. Jeff Barnes of Stirling’s Mobile office assisted in the transaction along with Auction.com. Woodmere Crossing’s tenant roster includes Petco, Books-A-Million, Jason’s Deli and Sally Beauty Supply. Beezie Landry of Stirling’s Covington office represented the seller in all three transactions.
LACOMBE, LA. — Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Development Co. (WREDCO) has begun developing Tamanend, an 848-acre master-planned community that will feature office space, a college, retail, restaurants and single- and multifamily residential units. Tamanend will be located in the centermost part of St. Tammany Parish north of Lacombe, which is approximately 45 minutes north of New Orleans. Gulf States Real Estate Services is providing project management, marketing and real estate consulting for the project. Northshore Technical Community College is planning to open an advanced technology center and STEM campus at Tamanend.
There is a buzz about New Orleans — no longer are only locals singing the virtues of this great American city. In fact, Forbes rated New Orleans the fastest-growing city since the recession in 2013, Bloomberg describes the Crescent City as “Boomtown,” CNN Money rated Louisiana as one of the most entrepreneurial states and Career Builder.com cited New Orleans as one of the fastest for wage growth in the United States. A spotlight has been shining on the dynamics of this market, and local, regional and national investors have taken notice. According to our most recent survey, rental rates in metro New Orleans range from a low of $0.80 per square foot to as high as $2.25 per square foot. Average monthly rent is $1.02 per square foot, and overall occupancy is at 93 percent. The geography of New Orleans is such that there are numerous barriers to entry, most notably the lack of available land to develop multifamily communities. As a result, the Downtown/ Warehouse District is experiencing a major renaissance whereby mid- and late-1920s office buildings are being converted to multifamily. Notable developments downtown that are under construction or soon to commence include The South Market, which will …
With the presidential election and fiscal cliff behind us, the mood among retailers, developers and brokers in the Baton Rouge market has turned to cautious optimism. This year, expect continued growth at a measured pace in the Baton Rouge retail market. The Baton Rouge MSA is made up of nine parishes with a total population of 820,000. Over the past two years, the Baton Rouge MSA has seen employment growth increase at an average rate of 0.5 percent, with an unemployment rate currently at 6.2 percent, well under the national average. Home sales in 2012 were up 13.8 percent as compared to 2011, with average sales prices also increasing by 0.3 percent. The Baton Rouge retail market is comprised of 12 million square feet. The market experienced slight improvement in 2012 with the vacancy rate down to 9 percent. Most of the vacancy is concentrated in less affluent areas in centers built prior to 1985. Mirroring the national trend, month-to-month retail sales for East Baton Rouge Parish increased in 2012 as compared to 2011. On average, sales are 7.1 percent higher than 2011 and are on pace to return to pre-recession levels. In 2012 Baton Rouge saw several retailers expand …
The national economic downturn hasn’t impacted the greater New Orleans retail market nearly as much as the glacial pace of decision-making on behalf of retailers and investors who have pledged to enter, or re-enter, this still underserved market. As we close in on the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, retail properties in Jefferson Parish and other more affluent parishes have rebounded, while large swaths of Orleans Parish, home to the city of New Orleans, remain retail starved. Many residents of New Orleans East, for example, must still travel 20 to 25 minutes to find affordable basic staples. Exacerbating this problem are relatively high barriers to entry in New Orleans, which is landlocked and has restrictive big-box ordinances. There’s still not a single Target store, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart or Staples in the city and just one Walmart. Making things even more difficult, Orleans Parish continues to lose tax dollars to other parishes. However, New Orleans is slowly regaining its momentum, with roughly 350,000-plus people back in residence, compared to a pre-Katrina population of about 450,000. Most New Orleans neighborhoods that were not flooded have returned to nearly 100 percent of their July 2005 populations. Retail real estate …
Older Posts