FEATURE TITLE: Cool Spaces
PHOTO CREDIT: Don Kadair
With the relocation of Aristocracy Apparel from Towne Center to North Third Street a little over a year ago, downtown Baton Rouge marked another milestone. Clothing stores have been a rarity for the district. Aristocracy offers men’s clothing, shoes and accessories; its arrival continued the revitalization of Third Street. For decades, Bates and Thigpen men’s clothing, apparel and uniform store has been the sole clothing retailer in downtown, as others exited to the suburbs over the years.
[ PHOTOS IN RER-76: Mathernes.jpg and Rouses.jpg for third item; Alamo Drafthouse.jpg for the fourth item. ]
FEATURE TITLE: The market at a glance
A little more than a year after opening, the phenomenally successful Acadian Village Shopping Center on Perkins Road and South Acadian Thruway sold for $32.1 million to the Dallas-based real estate firm Crow Holding. Though the deal was pricey, the property was highly desirable. According to an offering memorandum circulated last fall to potential buyers, the shopping center is 100% occupied and generates about $2 million per month.
After years in the planning, Juban Crossing in Livingston Parish opened in 2014, bringing several national retail tenants to the development, including Belk’s and Movie Tavern, a dine-in theater.
The market saw a flurry of activity in the supermarket sector. Matherne’s opened downtown’s first full-service grocery store in more than a decade, a new Rouse’s came to Denham Springs, LeBlanc’s Frais Marche moved into Drusilla Shopping Center, and Hi Nabor breathed new life into the old Broadmoor Shopping Center with its latest store. Texas-based Abshire’s chain is also said to be eyeing the market.
After years of delays, Rouzan announced its first commercial tenant—the Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse dine-in theater. It won’t be the only one of its kind in the market. Movie Tavern, a competing concept, is developing theaters in Juban Crossing and Citiplace. More importantly, inking the Alamo Drafthouse deal is expected to help Rouzan attract other high-end retail tenants.
FEATURE TITLE: Three things to watch in 2015
1. The area’s many planned unit developments and traditional neighborhood developments are starting to move to the commercial phase of development after several years of focusing on residential. Willow Grove, Long Farm, Harveston and Rouzan—all of which broke ground in the early to mid 2000s—are coming of age and beginning to attract attention from the retail sector. As more rooftops go up, expect more retailers to follow.
2. Last year downtown got a supermarket and a high-end men’s boutique. With the completion of several new multifamily developments—including 525 Lafayette next to the IBM Tower and 440 on Third in the old Capital One building—more retailers are expected to follow. Several of the new multifamily buildings have retail space on their ground floors. Who occupies that space and how quickly it is occupied will say a lot about what the future holds for downtown living.
3. Though the Bluebonnet corridor with the Mall of Louisiana and Perkins Rowe remains the retail center of the Capital Region, Livingston and Ascension parishes continue to grow and commercial development is following the rooftops. Look for more new projects and more announcements from national retailers.
SOURCE: Research data was provided by the Commercial & Investment Division of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors and presented at the 2015 Baton Rouge Trends seminar. For more information, visit batonrougetrends.net.
