The stagnant downtown Baton Rouge office market got a boost this week when Jones Walker announced plans to leave its United Plaza home of 40 years to take up residence in City Plaza I.
The law firm announced Tuesday that it will renovate the top two floors of the downtown building as well as a portion of another floor, and plans to move in late next year. GraceHebert Architects is handling the design.
While downtown has been booming in recent years for residential and commercial real estate, the office market has been flat.
Office space downtown has increased slightly in cost per square foot in the last five years, going from $21.75 per square foot in 2014 to $24.78 in 2018. Occupancy rates, meanwhile, have tumbled from 89.3% in 2014 to 83.3% this year, the Downtown Development District reports in its annual development toolkit.
The 166,500-square-foot City Plaza I building is roughly 75% occupied, as Business Report reported earlier this year in its annual Real Estate Report. With Jones Walker taking up more than two floors, where roughly 90 employees will work, the firm will be occupying a large chunk of the Class A building’s empty space.
Jones Walker says moving downtown will allow the firm to be nearer to its clients’ offices, state and federal courts, and government offices.
