Paul and Ann Connelly have purchased the Lobdell Avenue shopping center near the Jefferson Highway intersection that’s home to Anne James Hair Salon, with plans of transforming the center into a “creative business park” called Studio Park.
“We’ve been working on it for quite some time,” says Ann Connelly, whose namesake fine art gallery will be among the anchor tenants of the center, along with Anne James Hair Salon. “Basically, we’re looking at is as another pearl in the chain of Baton Rouge, and an opportunity to add to the excitement that’s building here.”
The Connellys purchased the center at 1680 Lobdell Blvd., which is situated on a 2.8-acre tract, for $1,944,000, according to records filed with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court. Connelly says there’s plenty of room for a potential expansion of the current 9,000 square feet of commercial space in the center, adding that there are no immediate plans for an expansion.
“We can build up to an additional 22,000 square feet,” she says.
Connelly says she and her husband will be looking to fill Studio Park with “creative companies that can come in and help build a signature for the city.” She points to the Southdowns Shopping Center off Perkins Road, where she currently has a gallery, as an example of a center that has been transformed through the years from a nondescript shopping center into a destination for creative businesses, with tenants including architects, artists, photographers and the like. —Steve Sanoski
