The developer of the River House, a planned mixed-use development on the site of the old Prince Murat Hotel on Nicholson Drive, says after years of delays he expects to close a deal with lenders in the next few weeks, clearing the way for construction to begin on the development in early 2015.
Atlanta-based Marc Blumberg, who is developing the project with partner Emanuel Organek, says survey stakes were placed in the ground around the 10-acre site last week to update a land survey in anticipation of the closing of a construction loan. Blumberg and Organek originally planned to use U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development financing for the project, which will include 224 apartments with a 34,000-square-foot office building and 15,000 square feet of retail space, but the process took too long.
“It dragged on forever and there were issues with the final approval from HUD,” says Blumberg. “So we decided to go with conventional financing.”
In the years since Blumberg and Organek began working on the River House project, interest has grow exponentially in the Nicholson Drive corridor. Late last year the Baton Rouge Area Foundation announced plans to develop the Water Campus between River Road and Nicholson Drive. Earlier this year Lafayette developer Dalis Waguespack unveiled plans for another mixed use development on Nicholson Drive that will be called the River District. The city-parish is also exploring developing a trolley on Nicholson Drive that will link downtown to the LSU campus.
“It just keeps getting better and better,” says Blumberg. “There are more conventional lenders that are interested in projects here than there were during the recession. They love Baton Rouge. The city is vibrant.” —Stephanie Riegel
