Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments and additional details from developer Corbin Ladner.
A real estate developer has purchased a roughly 120-acre tract of land off Brown Road in Denham Springs for roughly $3 million and plans to build a 317-lot subdivision called Hidden Lakes Estates.
Tigue Bonneval, a Beau Box broker/partner with Audubon Real Estate Associates, represented the buyer and the seller. The deal closed on Tuesday, Bonneval says.
The seller is Hidden Lakes Properties LLC, and the purchaser is Hidden Lake Estates LLC.
“It’s going to be one the only neighborhoods that’s being developed that’s high and dry in Denham,” Bonneval says.
Developers Corbin Ladner, David Law, Clayton Mitchell and Wesley Daniel are working together to develop the subdivision, which will break ground on Monday. The prices of the homes will start in the upper $200,000 range, Ladner says.
“The goal is to try to meet the demand for custom home lots for a market that needs it,” Ladner says. “Hidden Lakes stayed high and dry in the August 2016 flood, which is very unique in the Livingston Parish.”
Widespread, unprecedented flooding in August dramatically impacted the residential and commercial real estate market in the greater Baton Rouge area. Year-over-year closed home sales and new listings fell 23.4% and 2.8%, respectively, in the region, exacerbating the tight supply of inventory in the market.
Inventory continues to remain low in the area, through home sales have climbed, with the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors reporting that Livingston’s closed and pending sales were up 2.1% and up 13.7% in February, the latest data available.
Ladner says the property, which is located between the heart of Denham Springs, Walker and Port Vincent, remained dry during the flood. He says the lots will be sold to custom builders.
“We just wanted to make sure things were right before we jumped into Livingston,” Ladner adds. “With that said and the timing, we just felt this was the right time to do it.”
The subdivision, which will have a large clubhouse and pool center, has five filings. The first two filings should be ready for home construction in seven to eight months, Ladner says, adding that property was ready for development.
“Usually when you start a project from the ground up it might take a year or year-and-a-half to get it ready for construction,” he says.
Bonneval says the seller purchased the property in 2006 for $500,000 and developed it to be approved for neighborhood use, which led to the increased sale price.
“They got it up for where it could be ready for a developer to break ground after the sale,” he says.
—Alexandria Burris
