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Once the city’s industrial core, North Baton Rouge remains plagued by a lack of interest.
The industrial sector of the local real estate market is strong, with occupancy rates approaching 93%. North Baton Rouge, once the city’s industrial heartland, is the sole exception to that trend. More than half of the market’s vacancies are concentrated along Choctaw Drive in the submarket bounded by Airline Highway, Baker, the river and the East Baton Rouge Parish line. What’s more, the majority of the vacancies are what real estate broker Matthew Laborde of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate defines as “persistent vacancies,” or those that have been empty for at least a year.
Of the 91 vacant industrial properties on the market as of Dec. 31, 49 were in North Baton Rouge—representing 1.1 million of the total 2 million vacant square feet. Of those 49 properties, 34—with a total of 880,174 square feet—were on the market for at least one year.
Several factors are behind the phenomenon. The buildings are older—half a century or more—and need work. Many are functionally obsolete—large and too costly to convert into usable space. Then there’s the issue of crime.
“Crime can be a factor when you’re talking about companies that have employees who work late at night,” Laborde says. “You don’t want to put them in that area. Also, if they materials they leave outside at night or trucks, that can be an issue, too.”
North Baton Rouge is not alone. Once-thriving industrial corridors across the country have experienced similar fates. What’s the solution? Unfortunately, there’s no single answer, according to East Baton Rouge Planning Director Frank Duke.
“You’ve got to look at each piece of property discreetly and there are all sorts of issues that come into play,” Duke says. “What was the prior use? Is there potential demand for the space? There are lots of challenges we are facing because the nature of industrial usage is changing from what it was in the past.”
Sometimes the solution is as relatively simple as reconfiguring space that would otherwise be functionally obsolete. In Norfolk, Virginia, where Duke formerly was planning director, Ford Motor Co. worked with the city’s planning department to reconfigure a large, obsolete Ford manufacturing facility into several smaller pieces.
Sometimes, the solution involves changing the rules to make redevelopment easier. In Durham, North Carolina, where Duke also spent several years, city leaders changed the zoning in a blighted, former industrial area.
“There is no single area,” Duke says. “You kind of have to take it on a case-by-case basis.”
What’s the best solution for North Baton Rouge?
For now, the area is on the radar of city planners, who will be looking at ways to make better use of functionally obsolete spaces and, therefore, spur economic development. In the meantime, real estate agents say the area still has several advantages—good infrastructure and attractive price points—that make it worth considering.
