‘Real Estate Weekly’: ‘Tide has turned’ for south La. commercial market, Stirling exec says

Stirling Properties President/CEO Marty Mayer recently returned from the International Council of Shopping Centers RECon global convention in Las Vegas, which annually draws roughly 30,000 attendees. He’s been going to the convention for the past 25 years. But never before has he gotten quite the same reaction from his colleagues as he did when chatting about the projects under way now in their respective markets. “I continually got surprised looks and comments from people when I’d tell them about everything we have in the works in south Louisiana—the level of activity and everything we have in the pipeline,” Mayer says. “Most of these people don’t know about it, and they’re just amazed at what’s going on down here because most of what they’re doing is just treading water.” The commercial market in south Louisiana—led by Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Lafayette—is benefiting from a mix of available properties (whether it’s urban infill or vacant land in rapidly expanding suburbs), increasing populations and positive economic news from the state in general, Mayer says. Another factor, he says, is many national retailers and restaurant franchises that hadn’t previously targeted Louisiana in their expansion plans are beginning to take another look. He points to Costco as just one recent example, which last month announced plans for a $40 million big-box warehouse store in New Orleans—its first in the state—and a purchase agreement to acquire 28 acres formerly home to a Coca-Cola bottling facility on Airline Highway. Read the rest of this story and the complete Real Estate Weekly e-newsletter here.