Investar Bank to build new branch at Commerce Centre in Prairieville

In a deal that closed this afternoon, Baton Rouge-based Investar Bank purchased a 0.8-acre lot at Commerce Centre––a commercial park in Prairieville located on the southwest corner of Airline Highway and Commerce Centre Drive, across from La. 42––for $550,000. The bank intends to immediately begin construction on a full-service branch at the site, says Chris Pike of Mike Falgoust & Associates, who represented Investar in the deal. It hopes to complete the new branch by the end of the year, Pike says, adding Investar is still exploring options for an existing branch on La. 42. “Once the new one is built they will decide what to do with that branch,” he says in an email, “but it’s likely that [we] will put it on the market for sale.” Investar, which recently filed paperwork for its initial public offering of stock, is also building a branch on Highland Road near Alexander’s Highland Market. The seller in the deal completed today was Commerce Centre 42 Development LLC, which in March purchased the final 15 available lots at Commerce Centre—covering a little under 16 acres—for $3.48 million. Grey Hammett and Scot Guidry, who are also with Mike Falgoust & Associates, represented Commerce Centre 42 Development in the deal. —Rachel Alexander