Barnes Noble: Bookstore not affected by listing of CitiPlace building

A building that’s home to one of Barnes & Noble’s three Baton Rouge bookstores, at 2590 CitiPlace Court, has hit the market for an undisclosed price, but a company official says any potential sale will have no impact on the store. “We just renewed the lease there, and my suspicion is, when it comes up to the end of the term, we will take another look at renewing it,” says Barnes & Noble Vice President of Development David Deason, adding the recently inked lease is good for another “five or six years.” The 34,325-square-foot building was constructed in 1996, according to the listing, and is located on a 107,161-square-foot lot. Deason says Barnes & Noble, like most major retailers, leases all of its locations and that sales of the buildings they are located within are not uncommon. “These are commodities that are traded on a daily basis,” he says. “My guess is, if you look online you could find 250 of our stores” that are located in buildings listed for sale. Barnes & Noble recently opened a new bookstore on the LSU campus, and Deason says, “Baton Rouge and Louisiana have been what I would call overperforming markets for us.” You can check out the CitiPlace property listing online here. —Steve Sanoski