Residential leasing activity at the River House, Baton Rouge’s latest mixed use development, is picking up.
Nearly one year after construction was completed on the multifamily portion of the development, which sits on the Nicholson Drive site that once was home to the Prince Murat Hotel, occupancy of the 224-unit complex is averaging more than 90%, says Marc Blumberg, who has been working on the project since 2009.
The retail portion of the development is on hold, however, until after the office building is leased. In May 2017, Blumberg said he was close to finalizing a deal with a destination restaurant that would serve as an anchor tenant, but those plans fell through.
Blumberg now says the focus is to fully lease the 34,000-square-foot office building, the shell of which has been completed, before beginning construction on any commercial space.
“We’ve got some retail/restaurant deals that are soft signed but we’re not doing anything until we get a tenant for the office and finish the buildout,” he says.
Leasing the office building has been slow going, in part because of a softening office market downtown. Last August, Blumberg and his partner in the project, Manny Organek, listed the building for sale or lease. The asking price for the building was not disclosed in the listing. The lease rate at the time was $26.50 per square foot.
Blumberg says the move was intended to test the waters and see if any offers came back. They did not. The focus now, nearly one year later, is again on trying to lease the building to one or more users.
“We’ve had some good interest,” he says. “We’re going to be unique for the right person. We’re not the CBD and we’re not suburban, but for someone who wants the easy access and free parking and proximity to the Water Campus, we’re a good fit.”
Blumberg says the strong occupancy rates at River House’s multifamily complex and increased activity at the nearby Water Campus—where three buildings are complete and two more are about to begin construction—is a good sign and he believes demand for the office and, eventually, retail space will pick up.
“There’s a lot of positive stuff happening along this corridor,” he says.
