Moving forward with plans to redevelop the former Entergy Corp. site at 1509 Government St. in Mid City, the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority has filed an application with the East Baton Rouge Parish Planning Commission to rezone the 6.1-acre property from light industrial to mixed-use.
The change, if granted, is needed because the vision for the project—a complex of shops, apartments and restaurants—is incompatible with the existing zoning classification, says Gwen Hamilton, interim director of the RDA.
“For the type of mixed-use development we want to see there the existing zoning is very limiting,” she says.
Plans for the long-vacant property, which was donated by Entergy to the RDA nearly two years ago, call for the development of between 120 and 150 housing units and up to 19,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space. Planners hope the site will be the catalyst for a much larger urban redevelopment effort through downtown east and Mid City.
In late March, the RDA plans to issue a Request for Expression of Interest, or RFEI, from potential developers. Their initial responses will be due May 1. After a two-month review process, the RDA will invite a select group of developers to submit more formal proposals for the project. Hamilton hopes to select a final development team by Aug. 30.
As for the how the project will be financed, Hamilton says that will be up to the developer chosen.
“We will be looking very carefully at that in the proposals they submit,” she says. “We own the land so we will be looking for a development partner. We’re not interested in selling the land to anyone. We will be looking for an opportunity that will be beneficial for us and for the developer.”
In October, the RDA selected Portland, Oregon-based Fregonese Associates to write a request for proposals from developers to transform the site.
—Stephanie Riegel
