Developer Prescott Bailey has submitted a concept plan with the Planning Commission for a 275-acre planned unit development that will front River Road and be bounded by Nicholson Drive and Bayou Manchac, about 1.5 miles south of L’Auberge Casino.
The new development will be called Atwater, and will comprise more than 800 single-family residential lots of varying size. Bailey currently has the property, which is owned by a group of multiple investors, under contract but has not yet closed on the land.
Atwater will have two entrances on River Road and will back up to Nicholson Drive, directly across from the University Club subdivision, though it will not be accessible from Nicholson. Bailey says the success of U-Club and other nearby developments is what inspired him to target the area.
“This location and the area surrounding the Nicholson corridor continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of Baton Rouge, and we believe this project will continue that growth pattern,” he says. “With newer nearby projects such as Pointe Marie and Harveston, as well as Lexington and University Club, this area has proven to be a high demand area.”
Atwater will consist of a mix of single-family homes ranging from smaller alley-loaded cottages of around 1,700 square feet to larger “estate” homes of between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet. Bailey is putting together a builder guild of local builders, who will develop both custom and spec houses. Atwater’s 800 lots will not be developed all at once but in phases over the next seven or eight years.
Bailey, who is developing the project through his company, Southern LIfestyle Development, says it’s too early to determine pricing for the homes.
Plans for Atwater also call for multiple parks, playgrounds and lakes with jogging trails connecting throughout the development. There will also be a pool and amenity package as well as biking and jogging connectivity to the adjacent levee system.
The Planning Commission will take up the project at its June meeting. If approved, Bailey hopes to begin infrastructure work in about one year, with residential construction to follow.
—Stephanie Riegel
