Lafayette-based Burgersmith has plans to open its third location overall and second in Baton Rouge on Siegen Lane just north of TJ Ribs and The Plumbing Warehouse.
Burgersmith operations director Russ Umbricht says the corporation is in final negotiations to lease space from Lake Charles developer Michael Hankins, who plans to build a 6,400-square-foot building on a vacant plot. Burgersmith would lease approximately 3,400 square feet of the building, leaving space for one or two other tenants.
“This is a project geared around Burgersmith,” says Hankins. “So we’re trying to finalize their aspect of things” before pursuing other tenants.
Burgersmith opened its first Baton Rouge location in the Acadian-Perkins Plaza in the fall of 2011. Umbricht says a Siegen Lane location was the next logical step for the expanding burger joint.
“There’s a nice concentration of commercial and residential mix out there, and it was far enough away from [the Perkins-Acadian] location that we felt that we could serve another part of the Baton Rouge community,” he says.
The shell of the building is expected to be complete by June, Hankins says, giving Burgersmith time to finish their build-out before the end of the year. Hankins’ application to rezone the Siegen property from CAB-1 to CAB-2 will be considered by the Planning Commission at its March 24 meeting, after which it will go before the Metro Council on April 16.
Also scheduled for review at the Planning Commission’s March meeting are the latest plans for the River District, Garden View Assisted Living on Jones Creek Road, and The Preserve at Harveston off of Bluebonnet Boulevard.
