BRAF/Commercial Properties played key role in IBM deal

While there was plenty of credit to go around at yesterday’s announcement about IBM’s planned 800-job technology center, which will open at a new riverfront office and residential complex in 2015, the partnership of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and its real estate company, Commercial Properties, was a critical factor in landing the deal. LED Secretary Stephen Moret says BRAF’s commitment—which will include developing and managing the eight-story office building and 11-story residential tower and parking garage, and also raising the $25 million or so to build the 95-unit apartment building—made Baton Rouge particularly attractive to IBM executives, who began scouting locations here more than a year ago. “They needed 100,000 square feet and we were not able to identify any place that met their needs,” Moret recalls. “That is what got us in a brainstorm session with BRAF and Commercial Properties, and we started thinking about a way to meet IBM’s real estate needs and also be a catalyst for downtown revitalization.” The office building is scheduled for completion by spring 2015. The apartment building will be completed that summer. All apartments will have balconies overlooking the Mississippi River and will range in size from 500 to 1,000 square feet. To view renderings by the design firm Antunovich Associates, click here. —Stephanie Riegel