Popular New Orleans restaurant Drago’s Seafood is considering building a Baton Rouge location on a roughly 3.2-acre site on Highland Road that has been sold to an investor for $2.85 million, according the deal’s broker.
The New Orleans investor, under a limited liability company called Venture Highland, bought the site in front of the Country Club of Louisiana for about $20.15 per square foot. The seller was Highland Gates Properties.
Highland Gates Properties, represented by Jerry Dodson and Haji Bonakchi, bought the property in June 2008 for $1.65 million, or about $11.67 per square foot. The sale was brokered by Robby Durham at Durham Real Estate.
According to Durham, Drago’s Seafood is considering the site for its first Baton Rouge location. A mixed-use development is planned for the site, he says, in which Drago’s could occupy as much as 12,000 square feet.
“The building will be multiple stories and have a combination of restaurant, retail, office and high-end residential on the top floor,” Durham says. “We already have the penthouse pre-sold and are quoting rental rates for the retail space at $25 to $30 per square foot and are having pretty strong interest.”
Construction on the new building will begin sometime this year.
Appraiser Tom Cook owns Cook Moore and Associates. Reach him at (225) 293-7006 or mailto:TCook@cookmoore.com TCook@cookmoore.com.
Editor’s note: this column has been updated since original publication to clarify that Drago’s is considering locating a restaurant on the Highland Road tract that has been sold, but it has not yet signed a definitive agreement.
