Cathedral ceilings losing ground nationally, but not locally

A recent Wall Street Journal article cited the decline of rooms with cathedral ceilings, a victim of rising utility prices. But local architects and interior designers say demand for vaulted ceilings hasn’t changed much in the Capital Region. "We do cathedral ceilings every once in a while," says Al Jones, an architect who specializes in residential building across the Gulf Coast. "There's been no real remarkable change." Mark LeFeaux, an interior designer with Stoma's Furniture & Interiors, says the biggest trend locally is 10- or 12-foot ceilings, not vaulted ceilings. "People want things a little more spacious," he says.

That trend toward higher ceilings isn't going to go away because of utility costs, says Ashley Sullivan Hawthorne, an interior designer with Tipton Associates. She doesn't foresee ceiling heights dropping no matter how much it costs to heat or cool a house. "A house is like a car. It's a symbol of who people are," she says. "Getting the type of building they want is more important than saving dollars." Many homeowners also figure that the resale value of having a home with 10- to 12-foot ceilings offsets the higher utility costs, Hawthorne says.--Timothy Boone

B.R. housing prices standing strong

A Wall Street Journal analysis of the U.S. housing market since its peak at the end of 2005 ranks Baton Rouge 16th among all metro areas in increased home prices. The median home price during the fourth quarter of 2007 was $172,537, an 11.1% increase over the $155,257 median two years earlier. In contrast, the national average during that period was for median home prices to drop by 8.1%. Salt Lake City saw the biggest increase, 27%, to $232,276 in the two-year period. Santa Barbara, Calif., fared worst, with home prices dropping 26% to $475,832.

The Capital Region saw its mortgage delinquency rate increase by 1.85 percentage points during that period, virtually similar to the national average of 1.84 points. During the end of last year, 4.2% of mortgages by value in Baton Rouge were 30 days or more late, ahead of the national average of 3.86%. Merced, Calif., posted the biggest jump in delinquency rates, 7.76 percentage points, to 9.8%. Brownsville, Texas, saw the biggest drop, falling by 1.53 percentage points to 5.5%. To see an interactive map of how 200 metro regions are doing two years after the housing peak, click here.

Former LSU coach Brady sells B.R. home

Former LSU basketball coach John Brady sold his home in Southdown Gardens for $535,000 in a deal that closed last week. John Louis Tyler bought the home from Brady and his wife, Misty. Brady bought the house for $418,000 in April 2006, not long after he guided the Tigers to the Final Four. Brady was fired as the Tigers’ coach in February and has since been hired as the coach at Arkansas State.-- Timothy Boone

Work starts on Cajun expansion

Ground has been broken on a 10,000-square-foot expansion at Cajun Industries' headquarters on Airline Highway. The additional space will be used by Cajun's Baton Rouge public works and industrial divisions. Block Construction is building the $2.1 million project, and Washer Hill Lipscomb Architecture designed the space. The expansion should open by February.

Smart growth summit set for August

Are Louisiana communities building in a way that will work for the future? This question, and many others will be addressed at “Livable Louisiana: A Summit on Smart Growth,” from August 14-15 in the Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center for the Arts. The summit will feature nationally recognized experts discussing topics such as green building, the relationship between public health and planning, innovative transportation solutions and how to build safer, more pedestrian-friendly communities. There will be an update on the Louisiana Speaks Regional Plan priorities on the first day of the conference. The Summit is presented by the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX), a nonprofit urban and rural planning organization that serves Louisiana communities. It is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is required. Participants can register by emailing summit@c-pex.org or calling CPEX at 267-6300. For more information, visit the summit Web site here.

Poll: Towne Center place where retailers want to go

Real Estate Weekly readers think Towne Center is the best place to open a new store. Forty-three percent of the people who responded to an online survey say the retail center at Jefferson Highway and Corporate Boulevard is the best location, 34% favor The Boulevard at the Mall of Louisiana is best for a new store and 23% pick Perkins Rowe. More than 150 people participated in the survey.

This week's question: What do you think about rental prices ($1,350 to $2,400 a month) for the One Eleven development?

Tom Cook: Towne Center lot sells

Another sale has taken place in Towne Center Business Park. The Louisiana Board of Pharmacy purchased a 1.12-acre site in the Corporate Boulevard cul-de-sac for construction of a 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot office. The sale price of $706,788 is about $14.50 per square foot. The sellers were represented by Rob Ritter with Edmund Giering Real Estate, and Ben Graham with NAI/Latter & Blum brokered the deal. Construction on the building should begin within the next few months.

Mark Hebert with Kurz and Hebert Commercial Real Estate brokered a property on Jefferson Highway in Prairieville. The site fronted the west side of Jefferson, just south of Swamp Road and behind Popeyes Fried Chicken. V.G.A. Properties purchased the site from Fundamental Provisions for just over $750,000, or about $10 per square foot, one of the higher prices paid in this area.

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

Brian Andrews: Can they keep a secret?

The loan application process is sometimes likened to gutting a catfish with the borrower being the willing participant under the knife. He is cut open and has his inner workings spread out on a table to make sure everything is OK. I guess that's where the analogy breaks down, since the catfish is never reassembled and set back into the lake to live another day, but you get the picture.

Underwriting is obviously a necessary part of the loan application process and those who go through it know that they will be subject to careful examination by lender personnel. Implicit in the process is the understanding that the results of the underwriting will be kept private by the lender and information will not be shared with others except under specific circumstances. It is serious business and the banks are excellent at maintaining customer privacy.

More and more, commercial lenders are requiring written authorization to discuss underwriting results with third parties such as financial consultants, mortgage brokers, and even partners to the transaction. For example, if Smith and Jones apply for an apartment loan and Smith has a personal credit issue discovered on a credit report, the lender may be inclined to deny the application. Can they discuss the reason to Jones which would involve disclosing non-public information on Smith? It appears that the banks will do so only if they have written authorization from Smith.

So if you receive a new form from your lender when applying for credit or see new language in the loan application concerning sharing of non-public information with others, know that they are being diligent about maintaining your privacy. And if the loan doesn't work out, you can always wrap your catfish filets in the documents.

(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: Pre-leasing open for One Eleven; Uncle Tom's Cabin for sale; report says B.R. housing market undervalued

Downtown living: If you're looking at moving into One Eleven, the mixed-use development under construction adjacent to the Shaw Center for the Arts, now's your chance. Pre-leasing has started on the 12 units, which should be available for occupancy in September. Rents for the one- and two-bedroom units range from $1,350 to $2,400 a month and include cable television and wireless Internet. For more information, click here. Literary landmark: A Central Louisiana plantation reportedly connected to the classic novel Uncle Tom's Cabin is on the market for $6 million. Little Eva Plantation in Natchitoches Parish is a 2,000-acre property once owned by Robert McAlpin, said to be the inspiration for Simon Legree, the villain in Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery novel. The cabin that belonged to the fictional slave Uncle Tom was said to have been on the site. Below cost: A report on U.S. housing markets found that Baton Rouge residences continue to be undervalued and that the gap between price and actual worth has increased by 10% since the first quarter of 2007. The Global Insight report says Baton Rouge home prices, which had a median of $128,900 in the first three months of the year, are 15% below the actual worth of a home. For the full report, click here.