Two major projects with promise to transform the Nicholson Drive corridor between LSU and downtown Baton Rouge are expected to get the OK of the Planning Commission at its regular monthly meeting this afternoon.
Up for approval of its final development plan is the Water Campus, a 33-acre research park devoted to coastal and deltaic studies that will be developed south of Interstate 10 between River Road and Nicholson Drive. Construction began in February on the $16 million Center for River Studies; it’s first of several buildings planned on the campus, and it will house a full-scale model of the lower Mississippi River.
The project is the brainchild of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, and it’s expected to be a major catalyst for redevelopment along the Nicholson Corridor.
The Planning Commission is also expected today to sign off on the River District. The proposed mixed-use development would encompass multifamily, retail and entertainment components on a roughly 20-acre site that straddles Nicholson Drive near Magnolia Mound plantation. Though the project is moving through the official approval process, there’s no word on when construction might begin on the first apartment units at the site.
The River District project has been in the works since the mid-2000s. Though Lafayette developer Dalis Waguespack unveiled detailed plans and renderings for the project in January 2014, work still isn’t underway.
Once the Planning Commission gives the green light to the projects, both move to the Metro Council, which will introduce them at its meeting Wednesday for a public hearing and for a final vote on Wednesday, May 20.
The Planning Commission meets at 5 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda.
—Stephanie Riegel
