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A window of opportunity

In the national economy, a subprime debacle plus bursting housing bubbles equals the threat of recession—or worse, a nervous buyer.

An area coalition of more than 3,500 builders and real estate agents is hoping to reach that nervous buyer through a campaign touting this as the time to buy—and not shy away from—residential property. With the Capital Region’s healthy economy, the group maintains perception, not reality, that’s lending to an area housing slowdown.

National figures point to an intensifying national housing downturn. According to The Associated Press, 60% said they definitely won’t buy a home in the next two years, up from 53% in September 2006. Capital Region indicators project stable but modest growth this year. Buoyed by petrochemical expansions and a booming energy sector, job growth is expected to continue over the next two years.

With its “Homeownership Builds Stronger Communities” awareness campaign, the coalition hopes to refocus hesitant buyers’ attention from “negative national headlines” to “a window of opportunity.” It also wants to increase public awareness on how a stronger housing market supports a more stable economy.

Here’s their math on this deal: A national slowdown with less costly and more available building supplies plus lower interest rates equals an opportunity to get a more affordable house, says Joe Didier, president of the Capital Region Builders Association [CBRA] and owner of Didier Homes. Didier also says a more stable economy promotes stable housing prices.

Investors have apparently recognized the opportunity. According to Michael McDuff, executive director of the Greater Baton Rouge Growth Coalition, continued new investment in residential and retail developments in the area is an indicator of the area’s healthier market.

Here are the key points the coalition hopes will help regain consumer confidence in the Capital Region’s housing market:

• House values have appreciated an average of 30% from 2004 to 2007. Average selling price increased from $143,976 to $196,329.

• The metro area is expected to grow by 15,000 jobs in 2008-09.

• Some $1 billion worth of housing was sold in 2006 compared to $986 million, a decline attributed to the market easing off the “Katrina bump,” or added demand resulting from Katrina evacuees seeking shelter.

• While housing values have steadily risen 30%, overall prices have remained affordable, lending to a more stable market.

• Louisiana is among two states projected to experience growth in the housing industry in 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders. It also projects the state will rank among top states for housing growth in 2008-09.

• U.S. Census projections indicate the Baton Rouge metro area population will increase from 790,000 in 2007 to 809,282 by 2010.

• Economic growth is expected to continue in the area, particularly in the petrochemical and energy sectors.

For more information, visit Lahomeownership.com. —Anna Thibodeaux

Manual labor

While political candidates in Louisiana these days have the ability to file all of their necessary campaign finance information electronically, Mayor-President Kip Holden still does his paperwork the old-fashioned way. But it’s not because he’s a Luddite, a Holden campaign spokeswoman explains. That’s just how his campaign has always done it.

Alfred C. Williams, an attorney, longtime Holden associate and the treasurer of Holden’s reelection campaign, has been filing Holden’s paperwork manually since Holden was a state senator, for no other reason except that Williams prefers doing it that way. The documents are scanned and posted at ethics.state.la.us; however, the scanned paper documents are harder to read and much harder to search than records filed electronically.

For that reason, some government watchdog groups prefer electronic filing, although the Legislature doesn’t require it partly out of concern that rural legislators or small-town officials might not have the resources to buy the proper software or have the technological savvy to use it.

“The ideal situation is to have as much of the reporting done electronically as possible,” says Barry Erwin, CEO of the Council for a Better Louisiana. “With all that paper, it’s almost impossible to go through all of those reports, even if they’re on the Internet.”

Jim Brandt, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, says electronic filing ought to be required by statute, and says the trend in ethics legislation is headed that way.

“If you’ve got all these paper documents, but there’s no way to access them, they really don’t help at all,” he says. “An essential part of the ethics reform process is making the move to searchable databases and filing everything electronically.” —David Jacobs

Sorry, Dallas

Let’s hope somebody comes up with a better name, because it looks like the “webinar” is here to stay.

Wright & Percy Insurance is one business that uses them. Stephanie Solderitch, the firm’s marketing specialist, says it offers a free 45-minute web seminar to clients every month on topics like benefits, human resources, compensation, law and safety—all subjects on which W&P receives a lot of inquiries.

The webinar is like a regular seminar, except whoever’s leading it is in another room, building, city or country, while participants—wherever they are—sit at their desks in front of their computers watching the presentation and submitting questions or comments by telephone. If you can’t make the event itself, you can tune in any time for a 20-minute synopsis sans Q&A.

“We’re on the cutting edge,” Solderitch brags.

Webinars are good for training, too. Pre-webinar, an employee hopped a plane to Dallas for a seminar that included an overnight stay. Post-webinar, that employee can stay put and get the same training, which saves the company time and money.

“I can get on my webinar, go through my presentation, then I’m finished and I can go back to doing whatever task I need to do for the day,” Solderitch says. —Steve Clark

BUSINESSofPOLITICS

Transparency of transition: If you’re looking for transparency from the ongoing session, Baton Rouge Rep. Hunter Greene has just the thing. The Republican chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee is pushing House Bill 678, which would require a governor’s transition team to report all its expenditures to the Board of Ethics. The kicker, though, is that the legislation would apply retroactively to the transition team of GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal. Greene is also behind House Bill 635, which would force the transition team’s chairman and members to disclose the same financial information as the governor and other statewide elected officials. “These rules should apply to everyone in important positions,” Greene says. Among the conflicts that could have been avoided with Greene’s proposed guidelines involves Collis Temple Jr., who was tapped by Jindal’s team earlier this year to conduct interviews for the Office of Youth Development, which had previously awarded Temple nearly $6 million in contracts. “That should have never happened,” Greene says. Greene’s bills also put on the spot Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister Jr., who previously served as Jindal’s transition chair and campaign treasurer. McCollister is currently operating “Believe in Louisiana,” a political group that is raising and spending money to advance Jindal’s agenda.

Separate brands of justice? The chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus wants the House and Senate judicial committees to study whether there’s a difference in the length and harshness of sentences imposed by judges for similar crimes committed by Caucasians and African-Americans. Rep. Juan LaFonta, a New Orleans Democrat, says the Louisiana Supreme Court has not effectively addressed the issue, nor made any effective progress. His resolution states, “The prosecution of crimes in district court is totally at the discretion of a district attorney who may have more bias against some accused defendants than other accused defendants …” If LaFonta’s House Concurrent Study Resolution 1 gains favor with lawmakers, the joint judicial committee would have to report its findings to the Legislature prior to Feb. 28, 2009—just in time for next year’s regular session.

Earmarks to be debated: Earmarks are traditionally included in the state budget without information as to how the taxpayer money will be spent or who benefits. That’s why some folks call it pork. Moreover, the earmarks often represent the sole source of revenue for some nonprofits. “The question isn’t whether or not these organizations do some good in our state, it’s how efficient is the job they are doing,” Treasurer John Kennedy says. “If the state is going to continue to give money to these nonprofit organizations, at the very least taxpayers statewide deserve full disclosure about these projects.” As a means to offering a solution, Sen. Dan “Blade” Morrish, a Jennings Republican, has filed Senate Bill 106 to force lawmakers to reveal every last detail. Each funding request would have to include budget information, project goals, objectives and even information about connections with elected officials. Kennedy is among the bill’s supporters, and he says he plans on testifying when the Senate Finance Committee takes up the measure. —Jeremy Alford

Have a Coke and a championship

OK, you’ve got your official LSU 2007 BCS championship cap. And commemorative issues of Business Report and Sports Illustrated. And the DVD of the Tigers’ 38-24 victory over Ohio State in the title game. Now, a new bit of purple and gold championship memorabilia has hit the shelves: the commemorative Coke bottle.

Baton Rouge Coca-Cola will ship 480,000 bottles to stores across Louisiana and Mississippi, says company spokeswoman Melanie Clark. The 8-ounce glass bottles feature the LSU’s iconic Eye of the Tiger instead of the iconic red and white Coke logo. Clark says there’s a good reason the bottles are coming out more than three months after the Tigers’ impressive victory in New Orleans—the glass comes from Mexico and the packaging, which features a photo of LSU Coach Les Miles holding the crystal BCS Championship Trophy, was “more involved.” —Timothy Boone

A tear in their beer

Southdowns Lounge owner Rodney Cary doesn’t know when he’ll close his doors or if he’ll reopen the bar in another location.

The neighborhood watering hole, which Cary has owned for 40 years in Southdowns Village shopping center, has to be out by May 31 to make way for a new tenant: a wine bar. It’s part of renovations to the strip mall being done by landlord Donnie Jarreau Companies and managing partner McCartle LLC to give the property a more “community-centric feel,” according to Jarreau’s press release.

What’s not in doubt is the wave of calls and e-mails to Jarreau Companies from Southdowns fans who think the bar should stay. Cary would just as soon stay—especially since leaving means moving or selling off 40 years of accumulated stuff. A Jarreau Companies spokeswoman confirms the public bombardment. Cary says he’s bowled over by the reaction.

“It’s beyond my imagination,” Cary says. “I was on the Bill Profita Show, and he said this is the most response he’s had since 9/11.”

If the developers don’t back down and Southdowns indeed has to vacate, plenty of other locations are available, though Cary and business partner Doug Hanesworth haven’t yet decided how to proceed.

“I’m not about to say I want to move,” Cary says. “I don’t. But we do have opportunities.” —S.C.

Terror alert

Here’s something to worry about: Baton Rouge was ranked second on a U.S. Homeland Security Department-funded study that listed the vulnerability of cities to terrorist attacks, according to the Los Angeles Times. New Orleans was first on the report, which was heavily tilted against southern and eastern port cities.

The study, which was conducted by a group of math professors, looked at three main factors: social demographics, natural hazards and infrastructure vulnerability. JoAnn Moreau, director of the East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness, says the findings don’t surprise her.

“We’ve got so much critical infrastructure, there are lot of reasons to suspect there would be interest in a terrorist attack here,” she says. “That’s been our position all along.”

The Capital Region was removed from the list last year, so the Office of Homeland Security could target the money to larger cities, such as New York and Los Angeles. After a push from elected officials, the city was reinstated this year. —T.B.

Cane’s and able

Raising Cane’s plans to open five restaurants in Louisiana during 2008, including a second location in Zachary that is scheduled to open in October. Cane’s also is adding locations in Houma, Monroe, Natchitoches and Thibodaux; these locations also are scheduled to open in October. A company-owned location in Meridian, Miss., is scheduled to open in November.

Julie Perrault, a company spokeswoman, says this is part of Cane’s strategy to “fill in” locations in its home base. “We’ve got name recognition and a fan base in these places,” she says.

Along with the company-owned restaurants, Cane’s plans to add five or six more franchise locations in 2008. Cane’s currently has 70 restaurants in 13 states. Fifty-one restaurants are company-owned and 19 are owned by franchisees. —T.B.

ONTHEBEAT

On The Boulevard: The first Sephora cosmetics boutique in Baton Rouge is now open in The Boulevard, the Mall of Louisiana’s open-air expansion. The first Camille’s Sidewalk Café in Louisiana opened next to The Boulevard at the mall entrance. Camille’s sells sandwiches, salads, paninis and pizzas.

Marathon donation: Marathon Oil announced a $2.5 million gift to LSU—$1.5 million to the College of Basic Sciences and $1 million to the College of Engineering. The Basic Sciences earmark is the largest corporate donation in the college’s history and will go to its geology and geophysics department.

A toast to Abita: Abita Brewing Co. ranked No. 30 on a list of largest beer companies in the U.S., based on overall sales volume. The Abita Springs-based company also ranked 17th by the Brewers Association in its listing of the biggest craft brewers.

Excel-lent acquisition: Excel Group, a Prairieville-based company that works in the petrochemical and manufacturing industry, has acquired Davies Engineering for an undisclosed amount. Excel CEO Dave Roberts says his company can now provide turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services on small- to medium-sized projects.

Albemarle addition: Albemarle Corp. announced a $20 million deal to buy Ohio-based Sorbent Technologies Corp., a power plant mercury control provider. Albemarle President Mark Rohr says the deal allows the company to enter into the business of removing mercury from coal-fired power plants.

Gator tale: LSU researchers say alligator blood might be the source of powerful new antibiotics to help fight infections that are resistant to conventional medication. The study found that proteins from alligator blood killed a wide range of bacteria, including those associated with diabetic ulcers, severe burns, AIDS and organ transplants.

A bigger Roundup: Monsanto says it will spend $196 million to expand its Luling herbicide plant, a move that will allow the company to produce more of its popular Roundup weed-killer. The expansion will take 18 months to complete.

Steak out: The Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon on Acadian Thruway, which was damaged by a fire at the start of the year, has closed for good. In February, Lone Star, which has corporate offices in Wichita, Kan., and Plano, Texas, closed 26 restaurants, leaving it with 152 locations across the U.S.

Hotel holdups

Over the past year or two, plans for new hotels became common for Baton Rouge. Hotel occupancies spiked post-Katrina, and the GO Zone program and low-interest financing spurred people to look at entering the lodging business. There were plans to add about 2,700 new hotel rooms, which would have boosted the local supply by 30%.

But much of that construction still hasn’t happened yet. Only two properties have opened—a Residence Inn on Corporate Boulevard and a Hampton Inn and Suites on Reiger Road. A handful more are under construction, but there’s been little visible activity with some of the bigger, high-profile projects, such as the 350-room Marriott Renaissance Hotel (pictured) on Bluebonnet Boulevard, the 250-room W Hotel at Interstate 10 and College Drive and a 100-room hotel in Perkins Rowe.

Mike Wampold, who plans to develop the Marriott Renaissance Hotel on the site of a half-built Jimmy Swaggart Ministries dorm, says the problems have been caused by the tight credit market. “Things are crazy in this economy,” he says. “Conventional lenders have tightened up on criteria.” Wampold says he’s struggling with costs for the hotel and says he should know in a few weeks if the project will happen. He pegged the likelihood at 90%. “We’re trying to make the best decisions we can right now,” he says.

Richard Preis has four new hotels in the works

for his Howell Place development in North Baton Rouge. If all goes well, the Holiday Inn Express, Marriott SpringHill Suites, Microtel Inn and Hampton Inn should all open by the end of the year. “There’s been trouble in all industries and hotels are no different,” Preis says. “There’s a lack of liquidity.”

John Fels, who spent nearly 40 years in the hotel business in South Louisiana before becoming a consultant, says good projects can still get money from lenders; it’s just that banks and institutions are looking a little closer at hotel deals. “What happened, I think, is that with all those properties in the works, the demand was not there,” Fels says. “These were all done in the aftermath of Katrina.” —T.B.

Hammering out the details

Donnie Jarreau Companies will move ahead with permitting the old Perkins Road Hardware site in the next 30 days, says Chad Ortte, an agent with the firm. The hardware store was closed by fire in December 2006.

Ortte says the renovated space, which will preserve much of the original building, will contain four apartments and two restaurants: one casual, a 70-seat pizza place by Zippy’s owner Neal Hendrick; and one fine dining, which will be run by a New Orleans restaurateur whom Ortte wasn’t ready to announce.

Hendrick says rezoning and parking are two hurdles that have to be overcome first. He plans to serve brick-oven pizza, affordable wine and imported beer. —S.C.