Once the commercial heart of Baton Rouge, some portions of the Government Street corridor from downtown to Lobdell Avenue slowly have decayed into sparsely populated pockets of run-down strip malls, fading signage, cracked sidewalks and barred windows.
For drivers hustling through traffic on the four-lane thoroughfare, neglected storefronts simply fade into the background as their focus shifts to dodging potholes and swerving around turning vehicles.
For years, the long, steady decline of much of Government Street was depicted in living color as the once-gleaming white façade of the historic Darensbourg Building faded into shades of gray, and the space between green vines climbing its walls was filled with the chaotic hues of amateur graffiti.
Squatters even came to call the building home, burning a large hole in the ground floor to accommodate makeshift campfires. It is only fitting, then, that a collective vision for the redevelopment of Mid City now hinges on the success of efforts by developers and local leaders to raise the forsaken Darensbourg Building and those around it from the ashes of their former glory.
As Business Report details in a feature from the current issue, developer Danny McGlynn and architects Scott Ritter and Steve Maher are some of the most visible agents of change in the area. All are partners in the Model Block urban redevelopment project who see the potential hidden within the empty storefronts that dot the 2900 block of Government Street.
Their urban renewal plans—in the making since 2005—are responsible for the ongoing redevelopment of nearly the entire block.
“I had this idea that Government Street could become the artsy, Magazine-type street for Baton Rouge,” McGlynn says, referring to the eclectic roadway that runs through the heart of New Orleans. “I thought it was a good thing in a good place. It has an artsy feel to it.” Read the full feature. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
