Costco files plans for B.R. store, but land deal still not done

Costco Wholesale Corp. has filed a concept plan with the East Baton Rouge Parish Planning Commission to build a 149,000-square-foot warehouse store at the site of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Airline Highway. The national warehouse club signed a purchase agreement in April for an undisclosed price to acquire the 28-acre site from Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Gulf Coast. Though the sale has not been finalized, the company is apparently moving forward with plans for its first location in the Baton Rouge market. According to the application for preliminary site plan approval, which the company filed Thursday, Costco plans to build a warehouse retail building that will include an attached tire center and a freestanding gas station. Three outparcels will also be available on the site for future development. The application says if Costco gains all necessary permits and approvals, demolition of the old facility and construction of the new one should take six months and the store could be open as soon as fall of 2013. The store will be open daily and employ between 175 and 200 full- and part-time workers. You can see a few renderings of the proposed warehouse store from the application here; and here. —Stephanie Riegel