As a writer, Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel says in her latest column, year-end retrospectives always strike her as a bit self-indulgent.
“Still, it’s hard not to look back at the local events that marked 2014—a year of growth, change and lots of interesting stories,” she acknowledges. “Coming off the boom that was 2013—which kicked off with the announcement of the IBM complex downtown and ended with the unveiling of plans for the Water Campus research park—it seemed 2014 would inevitably be somewhat lackluster by comparison.”
But the new year didn’t disappoint, Riegel says, noting the Baton Rouge Area Foundation promised more great things for the city, with its ambitious initiative to restore the University lakes and its nascent efforts to create a Medical District in the area between Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard.
“Downtown saw unprecedented growth, with the ongoing construction of several major residential projects and the announcement of two planned hotels,” she writes. “The district also got its first new retail store in decades and half a dozen new bars and restaurants. A full-service supermarket, meanwhile, is set to open in January.”
And economic growth was hardly limited to the city’s historic center, Riegel says.
“Lenders were back in the business of financing projects and developers were all too willing to take advantage of the available capital. In the hotel, office and commercial sectors, new deals and projects were announced every week,” she writes. “The multifamily sector proved particularly active. During the course of the year more than 1,700 apartment units were under construction and plans for some 3,000 more were announced.”
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