As first reported by Daily Report, Izzo’s Illegal Burrito and its parent company filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the owners of Rouses Supermarkets, alleging the Thibodaux-based chain pressured developers of several shopping centers not to lease to the burrito chain.
Izzo’s filed the lawsuit April 6 in the 19th Judicial District Court of East Baton Rouge Parish.
The burrito chain alleges the supermarket was acting in retaliation of a 2012 incident involving a former Izzo’s manager, who had been fired and went to work for a burrito bar at a Rouses Supermarket in Lafayette, taking an Izzo’s recipe book with him. Izzo’s won a court order to retrieve the book from the supermarket. The burrito chain is seeking damages in excess of $10 million.
For the first time in a decade, the heads of all of the state’s economic development organizations met in Baton Rouge for a statewide economic development summit.
In a wide-ranging 45-minute speech during the opening session of Louisiana’s 2016 Statewide Economic Development Summit, Don Pierson Jr., head of Louisiana Economic Development, emphasized that collaboration among all of the economic development organizations is the key to the state’s growth.
“We win when we cross the finish line together,” Pierson said. “We win when we beat adversity, adversity does not beat us. We win when we recruit industry together, when we certify our sites, when we support small business, when we develop our communities and when we develop a world-class workforce.”
Also this week, Baton Rouge attorney Gary Graphia paid $9 million to acquire nine houses in a two-block area of Southdowns from Mary Jane and Paul M. Hebert. He doesn’t have immediate plans for the homes, all of which are rental units.
Here’s a rundown of some of the other top stories making headlines in Daily Report this week:
- One week after the Metro Council passed the economic opportunity zone to incentivize business growth in north Baton Rouge, Mayor Kip Holden vetoed the ordinance, saying it is well intended but lacked a cohesive approach. Councilman John Delgado, who proposed the ordinance, will try to get the council to override Holden’s veto.
- NAI/Latter & Blum announce Thursday that it is acquiring the commercial division of Donnie Jarreau Real Estate—a deal that will further expand market-leader NAI/Latter & Blum’s local presence. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Jesse Romero, a Baton Rouge chef who appeared on FOX’s MasterChef competition, plans to bring Acadiana cooking to Clark Gaines’ White Star Market on Government Street with a restaurant called Robear Ln. that he’s developing.
- Fearing that developer Arthur Lancaster’s planned Timber Ridge Subdivision could mean more flooding for their homes, residents of the Lake at White Oak subdivision attended the city-parish Planning Commission on Monday to oppose the development. The commission has delayed making a decision for 60 days.
- Gluten-free Truly Free Bakery & Deli, in Southdowns Shopping Center, closed Monday after seven years in business. Owner Erick Coughlin says landlord Donnie Jarreau Real Estate failed to fix the restaurant’s broken sewer lines. Donnie Jarreau has denied the accusation, saying Coughlin hasn’t paid rent since January.
- In the roughly 18 months since Ben Graham, Justin Langlois and Steve Legendre joined together to form Sperry Van Ness I Graham, Langlois & Legendre, the commercial real estate firm has quadrupled in size.
—Alexandria Burris
