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At its meeting Wednesday, the Metro Council will consider Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s plan to reposition the Raising Cane’s River Center as a convention center and construct a complementary headquarters hotel.
To facilitate the development of a new LSU arena, the River Center has entered into a noncompete agreement that will restrict its ability to host most live music or entertainment events once the arena is constructed. It is because of those restrictions that the River Center is likely to pivot toward being more of a convention center than an entertainment venue in the years to come.
But once the River Center stops hosting such events, how will downtown businesses be affected?
Aaron Franklin, owner of Third Street watering hole Dark 30, says his business absolutely benefits when the River Center hosts big events, and he describes the aforementioned noncompete agreement as “bullyish.”
Even so, he does not fault anyone involved with the new arena’s development and he is optimistic that the River Center will still contribute to his business once it has been redeveloped and a complementary headquarters hotel has been constructed.
“At the end of the day, it’s just business,” Franklin says. “I’m not against the growth of Baton Rouge. Everybody’s just trying to figure out how to make this city work.”
Daniel Unda, general manager of Capital City Grill and owner of Somewhere Neighborhood Bar, declined to speculate on how the River Center’s repositioning might affect downtown businesses, but he is clear about one thing: When the River Center hosts a big event, downtown businesses benefit.
“All I know is that we do well whenever there’s a concert, and all of downtown does well whenever there’s a concert,” Unda says. “That’s all I can say.”
Whitney Hoffman Sayal, executive director of the Downtown Development District, also declined to speculate on the potential impact of the River Center’s repositioning on downtown businesses, though she does feel that the repositioning presents its own unique economic opportunities.
“We look at this as an opportunity to better connect to our riverfront,” Sayal says. “If we’re reimagining the River Center, how can we reimagine the River Center in conjunction with the riverfront to make downtown a better attraction overall?”
