Led by Latter & Blum Inc. Chairman and CEO Robert Merrick, a group of New Orleans investors has acquired the office building at 4000 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd. for $8.15 million from a group of California investors. The 78,000-square-foot building is the eighth in the Baton Rouge market in which Merrick has acquired an ownership interest over the past 18 months, which he says speaks to the faith he has in the local office market.
“You’ve got so much petrochemical activity going on across south Louisiana right now, and that’s tied to the price of natural gas, not oil,” Merrick says. “Baton Rouge has always been the headquarters for big engineering companies so you have a lot of office users, which makes it an attractive investment.”
The other Baton Rouge office buildings in which Merrick has acquired an ownership stake are the six that developer Tommy Spinosa sold as a portfolio in October 2013, along with the C.J. Brown building at 3029 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd.
Merrick says his latest investment is particularly attractive, given that his team in Baton Rouge is already familiar with it. For the past decade or so, Latter & Blum has managed the building, which is 95% leased.
No major changes are planned for the property, though Merrick says the new ownership group will “spend a little more on maintenance and upkeep.”
Broker Ty Gose of NAI/Latter & Blum represented the buyers in the deal, which closed Jan. 30. Sperry Van Ness represented the seller. —Stephanie Riegel
