Plans for a new four-story office building downtown at the intersection of North and Sixth streets have been shelved for now, after bids for the project—which was to have been a joint venture of the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors and Louisiana Associated General Contractors—came in significantly over budget.
The two entities decided to team up on the project last year and began clearing land for the 28,000-square-foot building in December.
As originally envisioned, LAGC would donate the land—a vacant parcel adjacent to the organization’s existing downtown headquarters building—and LSLBC was to develop the building, which the two organizations would share.
But the three bids submitted earlier this year in an invitation-only bid process came in nearly 50% higher than the $6.5 million originally budgeted for the project, according to LAGC CEO Ken Naquin.
Consequently, LSLBC is considering whether to rebid a scaled-down version of the project, or hang on to the property for the time being.
“Right now we’re looking at whether to be rebid it or to hold it as an asset for a short period of time or look for other opportunities with it,” LSLBC Executive Director Michael McDuff says.
As a result, the terms of the deal have changed. LAGC is no longer a part of the project and has sold the parcel to LSLBC for $2.25 million. It plans to renovate the existing, brick building that has served as its headquarters for years.
“The easiest thing was just to cut off the fourth floor,” Naquin says. “So we’re out of it, and we’re going to renovate the building we’re in.”
LSLBC has cost engineered a smaller, three-story building but hasn’t decided yet whether to rebid it. The LSLBC board meets Thursday and will discuss how to proceed. McDuff could not say for sure whether the board will make a final decision then.
In the meantime, the vacant lot adjacent to LAGC’s brick headquarters building is a partially cleared construction site. Naquin says the LSLBC plans to put up a construction fence to hide the debris and weeds from view.
“We used to call DPW about the weeds,” he says. “Now, we call the licensing board.”
—Stephanie Riegel
