Capitol Park
The master plan for consolidating state government offices into a 250-acre campus transformed downtown by transplanting thousands of state employees. The project also created a new demand for office space, from lobbying, legal and engineering firms who want to be near the agencies with which they work. New restaurants sprung up to accommodate the workers, and the next step—downtown housing—is getting ready to start. View photo »

Country Club of Louisiana
This upscale development was one of the priciest communities in South Louisiana when it opened in 1986,right in the middle of a local real estate depression. But it was an immediate hit. The subdivision, centered around a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, has been credited with stimulating development in the southeastern part of East Baton Rouge and bringing in a wave of upscale subdivisions along Highland Road. View photo »

Santa Maria
Santa Maria was developed by Charlie Cole, one of the founders of the Country Club of Louisiana. It was one of the first big projects to follow the Country Club. The master planned community has a clubhouse designed by A. Hays Town and features amenities not found in most subdivisions, including a chapel. In the past 12 months, the average sale price for a home in Santa Maria was nearly $527,000, more than 2.5 times the East Baton Rouge Parish average. View photo »

Shaw Center for the Arts
Capitol Park created the crowds, but the Shaw Center for the Arts best represents efforts to energize downtown. The $65 million building is the home to the LSU Museum of Art, the Brunner Gallery for Contemporary Art and the rooftop restaurant Tsunami. The center has become a core for the proposed Third Street entertainment corridor. View photo »

CitiPlace/Corporate Boulevard
Tommy Spinosa spent just under $1.3 million for 67 acres between Corporate Boulevard and Interstate 10 in 1994. He profited a year later when he sold about 6 acres of land to the Brinker International restaurant chain for $2.1 million. Today, CitiPlace is a mix of restaurants, small boutiques, Barnes & Noble, apartments, office buildings and a United Artists multiplex. CitiPlace’s concept of shared parking, where spaces that are occupied by bank employees during the day are used by diners and movie-goers at night, has spread to Towne Center. And the successful development has led to all sorts of retail activity along Corporate. View photo »

Towne Center at Cedar Lodge
The $80 million development at Jefferson Highway and Corporate Boulevard is a major open-air lifestyle center that paved the way for Perkins Rowe and The Boulevard, the Mall of Louisiana’s expansion project. Towne Center attracted upscale national retailers to Baton Rouge, including Whole Foods and Coldwater Creek, and New Orleans-based businesses looking for a second home after Hurricane Katrina. The center is becoming an office hub, with State Farm insurance and Omni Bank opening local headquarters. View photo »

Siegen Lane Marketplace
The sprawling shopping center helped make Siegen Lane a major commercial corridor, attracting such household names as Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Sam’s, Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. The complex, known as a power center because of its big-box stores, brought in the city’s first stadium-seating movie theater, Tinseltown USA. The Tuscany Village apartment complex under construction will add a new wrinkle to the development. View photo »

Mall of Louisiana
The $300 million regional mall celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall as the area’s biggest shopping draw, pumping millions in sales taxes into the local economy. The Mall of Louisiana stimulated development along Bluebonnet Boulevard. Development continues to thrive by the mall, including its major expansion, The Boulevard, which will add stores like Pottery Barn. A new center going up near the Rave Motion Pictures will bring in more big retailers, including Circuit City. All this means the Mall of Louisiana will remain a major draw for shoppers, even in the face of competitors. View photo »