Metro Council members were surprised Thursday to find out that an item had been placed on the Jan. 14 council agenda by Mayor Kip Holden’s administration to introduce a measure calling for a tax and bond election on May 2, and they immediately began looking for details—which turned out to be scarce.
“It was the first I’d heard of it. I talked with [Chief Administrative Officer] William Daniel, and from what I understand this is a public safety bond issue for a prison, juvenile facility, DA’s office and a complete renovation of the new Baton Rouge Police Department at the old Woman’s Hospital campus,” Councilman Joel Boé tells Daily Report. “But they didn’t have any of the details. William said they’re still tallying up the numbers. He couldn’t tell me the total dollar amount, proposed millage or number of years the bond would be for.”
The bond issue—which will be Holden’s fourth attempt at passing one since 2008, with all three previous measures failing—will reportedly be somewhere in the ballpark of $350 million, though the administration had not released any further details as of this afternoon.
Also this week, the LSU Alumni Association board of directors announced it has voted to implement several significant changes to the way the association is run, including: the establishment of three-year term limits for board members, the creation of a human resources committee of the board and the rewriting of the employee policy manual. The changes were approved by the board at its November meeting, says Alumni Association President and CEO Cliff Vannoy, who will report on the changes to the LSU Board of Supervisors next week.
“The ultimate goal of the review is to use the results to develop a strategic five-year plan of action to better serve future alumni, alumni and the university,” says Vannoy, who has also called for an independent assessment of the 128-room Lod Cook Hotel and Conference Center, which is owned by the association.
Other top stories making headlines in Daily Report this week include:
— The Baton Rouge Area Chamber released a research paper titled “Taking Advantage of the Boom: A Strategic Plan for Cultivating a STEM Workforce in the Capital Region,” which says if the nine-parish Capital Region is to fully take advantage of the expected economic boom in the coming years, the education and business communities need to work in tandem to better prepare a workforce trained in STEM—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—fields.
— Though a dispute over the ownership of the iconic neon Coca-Cola sign downtown between building owner Mike Crouch and the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge remains unresolved after six months of negotiations, Crouch’s attorney tells Daily Report his client will allow the sign to be illuminated for the Festival of Lights this evening.
— Separate applications for five new apartment complexes and condominium projects that could bring more than 550 more units to the Baton Rouge market were submitted for consideration at the Jan. 20 city-parish Planning Commission meeting, with 380 of those being proposed in the LSU area. Over 2,700 new apartment units are already scheduled to come onto the market by the end of 2015.
— Local business leaders voiced concern and disappointment with Sen. David Vitter’s flip-flop on the controversial issue of Common Core. Vitter—a leading candidate for governor in 2015—sent an email to supporters this week saying he has changed his position and now opposes the national education standards and tests that go along with them. Businessman Lane Grigsby, who has created a political action committee to support education reform, tells Daily Report that he feels duped. A spokeswoman for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry also expressed disappointment with Vitter’s actions.
— The East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority’s new interim CEO, Gwen Hamilton, met this week with Mayor Kip Holden in one of her first official acts at the helm of the agency. Hamilton, who was appointed by the RDA board of commissioners last month to succeed Walter Monsour, tells Daily Report the meeting was extremely positive and productive, though the issue of permanent funding for the cash-strapped RDA didn’t come up.
— Urban planners, city leaders and officials with the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority will gather next week at a design charette to discuss ideas for the redevelopment of 140 acres of low-income property between downtown and Mid City. The 6-acre site at 1509 Government St.—the long-abandoned former Entergy headquarters—is the catalyst for the ambitious undertaking.
— The city-parish has budgeted over $700,000 total for the redesign and renovation of the Metro Council chambers, which are located in City Hall and haven’t been updated since the 1970s, according to Department of Public Works Interim Director Bryan Harmon. The Metro Council will consider approving a contract not to exceed $70,922 with Grace Hebert Architects and sub-consultants for a redesign of the space at its meeting on Wednesday next week.
— Gordon LeBlanc added two more pieces to his growing portfolio of downtown real estate this week with the acquisition of a parking lot at the corner of Laurel and Lafayette streets and a lot with a small office building on the corner of Laurel and Fourth streets. “It’s just a great time to invest in downtown,” says LeBlanc. “I believe in downtown.”
— Development duo Brian Dantin and Ross Bruce, whose previous projects have included the Bluebonnet Palms Office Park, Copper Mill Office Park and 333 Lofts and 333 Flats, will start construction on another project at the beginning of the new year called The Offices at Towne Square. Dantin and Bruce closed on a $1.28 million deal this week for nearly 5 acres of land off Jefferson Highway, adjacent to Towne Center, for the project.
— Driven by growth in recent years, Baton Rouge-based advertising firm MESH purchased a three-story building in an office park on Wrenwood Boulevard that measures more than 7,000 square feet for $700,000. The company is moving from another building in the same office park, where it currently leases about half as much space.
— Baton Rouge entrepreneur and Sugarbelle owner Kasie Coleman says she plans on spending a $25,000 cash prize that she recently brought home from the Capital One Bank Bayou Classic Business Challenge 2014 on marketing and expansion plans.
— After several setbacks and months of delays, Nick Hufft says his two separate Curbside Burgers projects are now both on track to open in January. The Curbside Burgers food truck, which Hufft had previously told 225 Dine would begin rolling again in October, ended up needing more repairs than originally thought, pushing back its relaunch in Baton Rouge. Curbside also plans to offer its grub at the Barcadia that’s under development in the old Serranos location at 3347 Highland Road.
— A hotel and a movie theater on Corporate Boulevard are both under new ownership following a pair of separate, multimillion-dollar sales recorded at the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court this week. Illinois-based Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. sold the 115-room Homewood Suites by Hilton at 5860 Corporate Blvd. for $13.5 million to Northstar Realty Finance Corp. of New York City and Chatham Lodging Trust of Palm Beach, Florida. In a separate, $8.15 million deal, Metairie-based Tribute Real Estate LLC sold the United Artists Theatre at CitiPlace to Orlando-area National Retail Properties LP, which plans to rebrand the theater as Movie Tavern.
— The business community mourned the passing of Ben Miller, one of the city’s most prominent attorneys and committed civic leaders, who died this week at age 77 after a brief illness. Miller is well-known as a co-founder of the Kean Miller law firm, where he served as managing partner from 1983 to 1999. During that time he helped grow the firm from 11 attorneys to 84; it now is the largest law firm in the Capital Region and among the largest in the state.
