The Books-A-Million store in Towne Center is closing in early 2018, leaving a nearly 16,000-square-foot vacancy in the shopping center, according to a real estate listing for the property.
It is unclear whether the Alabama-based retail chain has plans to relocate the store to another location or is permanently leaving the Baton Rouge market. The Towne Center store, which opened in the mid-2000s, is the only Books-A-Million outlet in the Capital Region and is one of just six in the state.
According to a real estate listing obtained by Daily Report, the store—which sits on an outparcel on the Corporate Boulevard side of the lifestyle development—is available for lease because Books-A-Million is “moving out after the first of the year providing the opportunity for a credit tenant to establish a presence in one of the best shopping centers in the best areas of Baton Rouge.”
The 15,875-square-foot building is being marketed as a “grocery-anchor tenant” type space at a lease rate of $16 per square foot per year. Base monthly rate is $21,156.
Jonathan Walker of Maestri-Murrell Commercial Real Estate is listing the property. He declines to comment. An attorney for developer Steve Keller, who co-owns and manages Towne Center, did not return calls seeking comment.
Books-A-Million was founded in the early 1900s. It currently operates 260 stores in 32 states.
—Stephanie Riegel
