Miami-based firm selected to create master plan for former Entergy site on Government

A Miami-based development and design firm will produce a master plan for the 100-acre site surrounding the former Entergy building at 1509 Government St. Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. was selected this morning by the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority over the Lafayette firm Architects Southwest. The contract will cost the RDA $175,000. RDA President and CEO Walter Monsour said he hopes the plan will guide and reduce risk for developers as they invest in Mid City. Christina Miller, a senior designer with the winning firm, told the RDA the company will use a strategy called “Lean Urbanism” while working on the project. The goal is catalyze the project’s implementation during the design phase by seeking out ways to pre-approve permits and pre-finance elements of the project. That allows “local people, young people, people who may not have so much money, to do it themselves and get it done,” Miller told the board. Miller said the firm will design around road arteries and incorporate a passenger rail station in the final design in contemplation that a proposed light rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will one day be built. The authority also approved a contract with Southern Environmental Management and Specialties, Inc. for $182,000 to clean out and repair five buildings on the site, including asbestos removal, tile replacement and window repair. —Kelly Connelly