Holding onto houses: Baton Rouge had the lowest percentage of foreclosures than any of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. According to RealtyTrac.com, 0.35% of the homes in the market were foreclosed in 2008. That put the city right behind Syracuse, N.Y., where 0.36% of the homes were foreclosed. The foreclosure rate in the Capital Region was slightly better than the state average of 0.39%.
Moving down the street: Travelcorp, a New Orleans-based corporate travel consulting firm, has moved its Baton Rouge office. The company paid $928,025 for an office condominium on Jefferson Highway in the Country Club Business Park, just a few blocks away from Travelcorp’s former location. Gwen Stevens, manager of the Baton Rouge office, says the firm needed more room.
Hospital on hold: Woman’s Hospital is suspending construction on its new campus at Airline Highway and Pecue Lane until it can secure permanent financing for the $350 million project. The hospital’s plan had been to pay for the new campus by selling bonds, though the national recession has created an unfavorable credit market, making this a bad time to go after financing, according to hospital officials. The suspension will last as long as it takes for the credit market to turn around.
