Smart growth summit set for this week

The Center for Planning Excellence will hold its third smart growth summit Thursday and Friday at the Manship Theater in the Shaw Center for the Arts. As of late last week, more than 500 people had registered for "Livable Louisiana: A Summit on Smart Growth," which will feature panel discussions on such topics as the evolving landscape for Louisiana redevelopment, large scale sustainable developments and rehabilitating brownfields. "We want to expose people to planning concepts and keep out planner jargon," says Alison Cascio, CPEX's outreach director for Louisiana community planning. "We want to convey the relevance of planning to all our daily lives."

In the past two years, the summit has been geared to all of Louisiana—not just Capital Region concerns. Cascio says this has paid off because people of all backgrounds are getting involved in the summit, including representatives from the AARP and Pennington Biomedical Research Center. "We're seeing larger numbers of older people and a greater number who aren't able to drive, so we have to plan accordingly," she says. Admission is free, but registration is required. Click here for the summit agenda. To register, e-mail summit@c-pex.org.—Timothy Boone

Antiques market changing

A recent Wall Street Journal article talked about the impact shifting consumer tastes were having on the antique market as shoppers steered clear of older French and English pieces in favor of more modernist décor. Local antique dealers say they haven't seen dramatic changes—French items are still very much in demand—but the market is shifting. "There's a decline in younger professional people buying antiques," says Mary Beth Massingill, one of the owners of The Antique Collection on Jefferson Highway. There have been reports of some dealers slashing their prices by as much as 75%, but Massingill says she's holding prices steady. "The reason my prices are not going down is because the Euro is killing us," she says. Loyal customers are still buying 18th and 19th century French antiques, which aren't selling well in other parts of the U.S. Massingill says one item that isn't selling well is armoires. She blames that on the trend toward expensive high-definition TV sets. "People want to hang their $10,000 TV on the wall and not hide it in an armoire," she says.

Susan Roland, owner of Fireside Antiques on Perkins Road, says she's seen quality European pieces drop by 10% to 15% recently, even with the bad exchange rate. "This is great for our business as well as our customers," she says. "Our customers are typically looking for European handmade-quality French, English, Italian and Swedish antiques with straighter lines and beautiful patinas." Roland says the traditional tastes of Southerners are still holding true, even with the economic uncertainty and the changing world. "Contemporary homes using no antiques is not a trend we are seeing a lot in the South," she says.—Timothy Boone

Learn how to remodel homes for older adults

The Capital Region Builders Association will hold a workshop Sept. 3-4 on how to remodel homes so older adults can safely and independently live in them. The workshop will be held at the CRBAoffice on Kentshire Court and will be taught by Dan Bawden, a remodeling contractor from Houston. Adults 55 and older have among the highest rate of homeownership in the country, which has created a demand for remodelers to adapt homes to meet their needs. Advance registration is required by Aug. 20. Click here to sign up.

South Harrell's Ferry church property sold

Task Force, the prime maintenance contractor for the Road Home Corporation, last week purchased the New Hope Community Church on South Harrell's Ferry Road for $875,000 and plans to move its Baton Rouge headquarters there. Hank Saurage and Josh Gwin of Saurage Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer and the seller. The church building is 13,150 square feet with a mix of office space and open warehouse space. Saurage says the building was an indoor batting cage facility before it became a church in the early 1990s. Task Force, which currently has an office on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard, is in charge of maintaining the lawns and properties of the estimated 20,000 blighted homes that will be purchased through the Road Home Program. Rowland Kimbrough of Task Force says the business will move "in a couple of months" after renovations have finished.—Timothy Boone

Poll: Readers want to see grocery store in Acadian Village

Real Estate Weekly readers overwhelmingly say they want to see an upscale grocery store as part of the redeveloped Acadian Village Shopping Center. Fifty-five percent of the people who responded to an online poll say they want the mixed-use development to include a shopping center. Eleven percent say they want to the development once again include a bookstore, while 9% want a coffee shop, 8% want a family clothing store and 3% want an electronics store. Fourteen percent say they wanted something else besides the choices that were offered. More than 150 people participated in the survey. The survey-takers may be in luck: the State Bond Commission has approved $4 million for Robert Fresh Market to build a grocery store in Acadian Village.

This week's question: How much do you think the value of your home will increase by in the next four years?

Tom Cook: Sunshine Business Park sells

The proposed 84-acre Sunshine Business Park sold to KEAS for $1.7 million—about $20,000 per acre—on Friday, according to Ben Stalter with Maestri-Murrell Real Estate Company. The seller was the Guillot family. The property is located near the foot of the Sunshine Bridge on the Donaldsonville side of the Mississippi River. The proposed development will cater to light industrial users and will be subdivided into one- and two-acre lots. One of

the frontage tracts has been sold to Comfort Inns for $285,000, or about $3.25 per square foot. Construction on the hotel should begin shortly, with completion scheduled by the end of the year. Road construction for the remainder of the development is currently under way.

—A little more than a year ago, E Federal Credit Union purchased 2.7 acres on La. Highway 64 in Zachary near the new library branch. E Federal constructed a new building and had some excess land, a portion of which has been sold to American Gateway Bank for $415,000, or about $12.21 per square foot for 0.7 acres. Mike Falgoust with Sealy Falgoust represented the seller. Kirby says there is additional land available which is suitable for a professional office park.

—The Country Club II Apartments on Alvin Dark Avenue in Tigerland sold Monday for $1.25 million, or about $39,000 per unit. The selling agent was Justin Langlois with Sealy Falgoust Real Estate Company. The seller was Coley E. Scott Jr., and the purchaser was Mar Realty, LLC. This sale comes after the Tiger Plaza and Stadium Square apartments were sold last month.

(Appraiser Tom Cook owns Cook Moore and Associates. Reach him at 293-7006 or TCook@cookmoore.com.)

Brian Andrews: Fed reports tightened bank credit

The most recent Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices by the Federal Reserve (link here) tells us something that we probably already know: Banks are tightening credit standards and loan demand is down. This survey, which examines changes in the supply and demand for bank loans to businesses and households nationwide over the past three months, reports these major findings:

-- Most domestic banks have tightened their lending standards and terms on all major loan categories over the previous three months.

-- Tightening of credit standards on consumer loans increased the most from last quarter.

-- While banks had also tightened their credit standards and terms on loans to businesses over the past three months, fewer banks had done so since last quarter.

-- Many banks expect to tighten credit standards on all major loan categories in the second half of this year, and some expect to tighten standards in the first half of 2009.

-- Demand for loans from both businesses and households at domestic and foreign institutions weakened over the past three months.

-- With regard to commercial real estate, about the same percentage of banks surveyed reported tightening their lending standards on

-- Commercial real estate loans over the past three months as did in the previous quarter. Fewer banks reported weaker demand for commercial real estate loans over the survey period.

So what does this mean in South Louisiana? In general, and according to the Office of Financial Institutions (see last week's column), our banks are well capitalized and able to make loans available when appropriate. The banks have tightened standards somewhat, but they had not loosened standards as much banks in other areas and had less tightening to do. My sense is that demand has weakened in response to market realities, particularly in the home-building sector and retail, both consumer-driven areas.

And how long will this tight credit and lower demand last? "Until the first half of 2009" is certainly a safe thing to say, but my hope is that properly underwritten loans made to creditworthy borrowers by well-capitalized banks will be around for much longer.

(Brian Andrews is a certified mortgage banker specializing in the financing of commercial real estate. His business is Andrews Commercial Mortgage and he can be reached at brian.andrews@acmla.com.)

Real estate recap: The Village at Magnolia Square has reservations; Home Bank buys site for Old Jefferson branch; I-12, O'Neal property on the market

Central TND accepting lot selections: The Village at Magnolia Square, a TND under construction in Central, has started accepting reservations on lots. After less than a week, buildersreserved 26 lots and individual homeowners claimed nine pieces of property, says Jimmy Nunnally, who is developing the TND with Steele Pollard. The first phase will consist of 79 lots, with houses selling for between $225,000 and $1 million. Getting into the market: Lafayette-based Home Bank has purchased the old Regions Bank building at Old Jefferson and Highland roads and plans to open a branch there before the end of September. The bank paid $945,700 for the 2,500-square-foot building in a deal that closed last week. Home Bank is building a branch on Bluebonnet Boulevard; that location is scheduled to open in October. 88 acres on the market: An 88-acre tract at Interstate 12 and O'Neal Lane is on the market. James Riley of NAI/Latter & Blum is marketing the property, across I-12 from Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge. The land, which is zoned commercial, has frontage on I-12 and the Amite River. Riley says there are a couple of possibilities for the site, including a mix of multi-family housing and industrial warehouses. Mallard Crossing on the move: A 12.6-acre tract on Greenwell Springs Road has been sold to a Louisville, Ky.-based development company for $1.3 million. LDG Development bought the land, between North Sherwood Forest Drive and Monticello Boulevard, with plans to start construction on Mallard Crossing, a 188-unit apartment complex, by the end of the year, says Ty Gose of NAI/Latter & Blum, who represented the buyer. The development will be affordable housing, aimed at tenants such as teachers, firefighters and police.