New office buildings proposed for Towne Center
Plans are in the works to build two multistory office towers in the Towne Center at Cedar Lodge. George Kurz of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who serves as a leasing agent for the development, says the towers would face Corporate Boulevard and have a combined total of 150,000 square feet of space. "The people who are trying to move forward with that have an interest in doing office condos, with someone owning a whole floor with 16,000 to 20,000 square feet per floor," says Kurz. The Creekstone Companies, which developed Towne Center, is one of the potential developers of the offices, along with another group, Kurz says. Along with retailers, restaurants and a hotel, Towne Center is home to several businesses, including local offices for State Farm Insurance and Omni Bank. Republic Finance is also building in Towne Center and should open its 35,000-square-foot building by the end of the year. Kurz says the new buildings hope to attract more financial institutions or attorneys and professionals. "You're well located to all points of East Baton Rouge Parish in Towne Center," he says. Further back in Towne Center, a tract by LSU's J. Bennett Johnston Sr. Center for Advanced Microstructures & Devices sold to an investment group last week for a little over $1 million. Kurz says the long-term goal is to put another office building there too. -- Timothy Boone
Lakeside Estates on the market in Livingston
A new subdivision is on the market on La. Hwy. 63 in Livingston Parish. Lakeside Estates features 223 residential lots and 13 commercial spots. Calvin Blount, one of the developers, says homes in Lakeside Estates will sell for between $139,000 and $179,000. Blount says he got the idea to develop the subdivision after he noticed how a nearby RV park was nearly full every weekend. "There are 80 to 100 people living full time in the Lakeside RV park," he says. Blount built 10 spec houses behind the park and they sold quickly. The properties in Lakeside Estates have been on the market for about two weeks; so far 11 lots have been sold. McLin and Associates, a local engineering and surveying firm, has purchased one of the commercial lots. Blount is hoping to bring in more office/warehouses as tenants, along with a day care center. -- Timothy Boone
Poll: Lenders getting tight
Even though Baton Rouge has been pretty far removed from the subprime mortgage meltdown, Real Estate Weekly readers say the effects are still being felt locally. Some 67% of the people who participated in an online survey say that lenders are tightening their standards for mortgage loans locally. Twenty-two percent say they don't know if the standards have been tightened or not, while 6% say lenders aren't getting tighter and 5% say there has been no change. Nearly 200 people participated in the survey.
This week's question: Which of these areas could use more office space?
Tom Cook: Walgreens purchases Juban Road site
JW "Peewee" Day of MA Allen Real Estate brokered the southeast corner of U.S. Hwy. 190 and Juban Road for a Walgreens pharmacy. The 90,500-square-foot site sold for about $14 per square foot or nearly $1.3 million. According to Day, the property had about 150 feet of frontage on U.S. Hwy. 190 and about 400 feet along Juban Road. The property had several minimal improvements that will be removed before Walgreens begins construction. Day says that Walgreens intends to hold the site and will develop a new store in the next two to five years. The sale price at $14 per square foot is an excellent buy, considering the activity that is proposed near the property.
(Appraiser Tom Cook owns Cook Moore and Associates. Reach him at 293-7006 or TCook@cookmoore.com.)
Brian Andrews: Credit scores increasingly important, but ...
It seems that credit scores are becoming more and more important in all aspects of finance these days, even commercial real estate. As traditional permanent lenders have been sidelined by the credit and liquidity crunches, other lenders are trying to fill the gaps by creating loan programs for commercial real estate projects that are credit-score based. There are even "no-documentation" programs similar to those found in the residential mortgage field.
A credit score is a confusing animal. And I think it is a dangerous thing to base a commercial real estate loan decision primarily on a credit score rather than on the details and particulars of the real estate transaction itself. Someone with a high credit score could potentially qualify for a loan on a project that has significant transaction risk, which would crash the credit score weeks after the loan is made.
I believe that a commercial real estate loan request always has a story that needs to be told. The story may relate to the borrower, to the project, to the market, or whatever, but there is always some explanation that needs to accompany the cold hard facts. The story is what will make the difference between a bad loan and a good loan.
These new programs popping up may seem like a great solution to the credit crunch, but borrowers should be cautious about jumping into a program just because it offers easy funding based on a credit score. Isn't that how we got into this mess to start?
(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.)
News roundup: Robert Fresh Market coming to Acadian Village?; developer completes land donation for Livingston schools; Big development downtown
Get your freshness here: The State Bond Commission has approved $4 million in GO Zone bonds for a Robert Fresh Market grocery store in the redeveloped Acadian Village Shopping Center at Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway. Robert is a New Orleans-based chain, with locations in neighborhoods around the Crescent City. Commercial Properties Realty Trust is redeveloping Acadian Village, which used to be home to Wal-Mart and Books-A-Million. Renaissance era: The Livingston Parish School Board has officially accepted 19 acres from a New Mexico developer and plans to build an elementary school on the site. The board signed off on the donation from Renaissance Development Group, which is developing the Juban Parc subdivision. Renaissance donated 41 acres near the development off of Brown Road so schools could be built on the site. The deal for 22 acres of land that will be the home of a junior high was completed in February. Juban Parc Elementary and Juban Parc Junior High are scheduled to open for the 2009-10 school year. River Park plans unveiled: The proposed master plan for River Park, a potentially $600 million multi-use development on 36.3 acres next to Hollywood Casino, was unveiled at this morning’s Downtown Development District meeting. The plan calls for 800 to 1,200 condominium units; 250,000 square feet of neighborhood retail (grocery, pharmacy and dry cleaning) and destination retail (clothing, accessories, restaurants and entertainment); 640,000 square feet of office space; 280-room flag hotel; 220-room suite hotel; meeting, convention and exhibition space; and 6,000 residential and commercial parking spaces. Its 1,500 linear feet of high-bank riverfront will be accessible to the public.
