When Synergy Home Care moved its offices to Tampa, Fla., it vacated two adjoining buildings at 8120 and 8130 Kelwood Ave., off Goodwood Boulevard behind Woman’s Hospital.
The buildings, which were offered for sale by Troy Daigle with Donnie Jarreau Real Estate, have been bought by Houma resident Edward J. Wright. The purchase price for the buildings, which have a combined area of 11,700 square feet, was $1.33 million—or about $113.67 per square foot. The sale closed March 6.
The property was acquired through a 1031 exchange after Wright sold some property in the Houma area. To qualify for Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, the properties must be held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment, and the exchanged properties must be like-kind—of the same nature or character, even if they differ in grade or quality.
The Connell’s Park area—west of Airline Highway and north of Goodwood Boulevard—has been relatively stable even with the announced relocation of Woman’s Hospital to the former site of Briarwood Golf Course. Daigle says the buildings are currently being offered for lease in the $9 to $10 per-square-foot range.
D.R. Horton purchases lots
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, national homebuilder D.R. Horton entered the Capital Region to take advantage of the housing boom. The company purchased more than 600 lots from BDMF in Ascension and Livingston parishes, with the option to purchase additional lots once the current supply was built out.
Still, as the market slowed, D.R. Horton continued to build—absorbing most of the original 600 lots. On March 3, it exercised an option to purchase additional lots, closing on 25 in Quail Creek for $447,031.11 and 18 lots in Arbor Walk for $404,400.
D.R. Horton did not have to exercise either option but did so because it is able to sell homes in the Capital Region. The company, which lists 17 developments in East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension and Tangipahoa parishes, closed on about 30 homes last month.
This is well below post-Katrina levels, but the news here is that the company chose to exercise its option to purchase and build more homes instead of walking away from that option.
Convenience store planned
A convenience store is scheduled for construction at the northeast corner of North Sherwood Forest and Catalina drives. The proposed building also will include an attached retail space that will be made available for lease.
The 49,200-square-foot site was purchased last month for $240,000 by Sherwood Center from David Wascom, Montgomery Holland and others. The price per square foot was about $4.90.
This is an area that has not seen a lot of new development in recent years, and the square-foot price for a commercial corner appears to be a bargain for the purchaser. The new owner has developed similar projects on Millerville Road south of Interstate 12 and on Plank Road in Baker.
The interior of the convenience store is scheduled to have modern drink fountains and coolers and offer standard items; the store is expected to sell Shell gasoline. After the building is constructed and gasoline tanks and pumps are installed, the total investment in the property will exceed $2.5 million.
