Construction is underway on the Cypress River Lofts, an 18,560-square-foot multifamily complex near the Water Campus, with officials from the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority and its development arm, Partners Southeast, breaking ground on the project this morning.
Located at the intersection of Oklahoma and Duane streets, the development—featuring five buildings, each three or four stories—was announced two years ago by the EBRPHA, with plans to break ground in early 2018. Triggering the delay was a lengthy yet necessary environmental review process conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, says EBRPHA CEO J. Wesley Daniels, who now expects construction to wrap by late 2020.
Once complete, the Cypress River Lofts have been touted by EBRPHA as a way to spur further development within the Nicholson corridor, as well as help link and revitalize the existing neighborhoods located in between Nicholson Drive and Highland Road.
“As we continue to invest in these neighborhoods, we will continue to see interest from private developers who are willing to deploy their dollars in the south Baton Rouge area because of its proximity to downtown and LSU,” Daniels says.
Plans call for 19 residential units—ranging in size from one bedroom to three bedrooms—along with a community room and management office space to administer the needs of the properties in the area. Its $5.2 million price tag is being funded by a mix of federal flood recovery dollars and some financing from Hancock Whitney, says Daniels.
Apartment units will only be available to those who earn up to 80% of the area’s average median income for the first five years the development is in operation.
Spearheading the project’s design is RHH Architects. In a prepared statement, RHH principal Clarke J. Gernon, Jr. says the complex “will be a great asset in the continued resurgence of Old South Baton Rouge and provide much-needed housing near the burgeoning Water Campus.”
Cypress River Lofts will join a portfolio of projects Partners Southeast and RHH have developed in the area, including the adjacent River South apartment complex as well as an adaptive reuse project at the old library site at the intersection of Highland Road and Louise Street, where an engineering firm is scheduled to move.
