To wrap up what Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer calls “a year for the record books,” the DDD will today release its annual progress report of downtown projects, which details accomplishments of the past year and looks forward to more development in the next.
The report highlights several statistics that exemplify downtown’s growth: the area brought in a total annual revenue of over $125 million, Class A/B office space is 89% occupied, 300 residential units are planned or currently under construction and 33 businesses joined the downtown marketplace.
“Downtown is getting far more dynamic than in the years past,” Rhorer says.
Including projects that have been announced, downtown met the goal of more than 1,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of the River Center.
“That’s such an incredible statement,” Rhorer says, “and in turn, the River Center gets more business.”
DDD is focusing its attention next year, in part, on the experiences those visitors to Baton Rouge will have.
“Once you arrive you don’t have to get in your car again,” Rhorer says of the organization’s goals. “Those walking experiences we want to be good ones.”
To meet that end, the district is pursuing projects to bring more green space downtown. Construction of the riverfront access point at Florida Street is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2015. An effort to replace hardscapes in City Hall Plaza with a lawn and shade trees is expected to be complete next summer. The simple addition of places for foliage and trees on Lafayette and Florida streets will make visitors’ stays more pleasant, Rhorer says.
Downtown will also see many more permanent residents inside its bounds as developments such as IBM, Oynx, Maritime One, The Grand Lady and The Commerce Building, all under construction, open their doors over the next couple of years.
Construction of the mixed-use development 440 on Third will conclude in the first week of the new year and not only bring more residents, but also the first downtown grocery store in decades.
Rhorer says there are also several transportation improvements planned to help people get to and around the downtown area. Better lighting and more than 500 free parking spaces are planned for under Interstates 10 and 110. Planning on a trolley line that will carry passengers from LSU, up Nicholson Drive and throughout downtown will continue.
Check out a copy of the full report, including renderings of several projects.
