Redevelopment Authority moving into new space

The East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority hopes to move into its new space in the Louisiana Companies building on North Boulevard when its lease starts Sept. 15. The authority’s four employees will have 2,764 square feet on the second floor, an improvement over the four cubicles at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation headquarters that had served as the authority’s office. “Certainly, we owe a lot to the foundation for allowing us to stay there rent-free,” Vice President Mark Goodson says. But having their own place will allow the authority to grow, and will help to establish an identity with the community, he says. Rent will be $3,000 a month, he says. Branon Pesnell, an agent with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate who has the listing for the Louisiana Companies building, says the lease is for two and a half years. “This will be their home until they can move into one of the governmental buildings or something,” Pesnell says.—David Jacobs and Timothy Boone