Planning Commission staff members will meet in the coming week with developer Tommy Spinosa and the local franchise owners of the Alamo Drafthouse proposed for Spinosa’s Rouzan development to discuss details for the project such as parking, design and height restrictions.
Spinosa announced last week he has inked a deal with the popular Austin-based movie theater chain—which serves food, craft beers, wine and cocktails in intimate, cabaret-style movie theaters—to be the anchor tenant for his traditional neighborhood development’s Village Center. Earlier this year the Metro Council approved a TND ordinance for Rouzan that allows for up to 100,000 square feet of commercial space, including up to 35,000 square feet for an anchor tenant. The ordinance—which was revised from an earlier version—also allows for a multi-story parking garage.
Still, Planning Commission Assistant Director Ryan Holcomb says the developer is required to submit a final development plan for the project with a greater level of detail. If the plan is submitted by Dec. 4, the commission could take up the matter at its January meeting. Otherwise, it will have to wait until February or March.
Local franchise owner Anthony Coco, who’s also president of the Cojeaux Cinemas franchise group, says he believes Rouzan is the ideal location for Louisiana’s first Alamo Drafthouse. He also says the local cinema, which will have seven screens with a total of 900 seats, will be unique in the family of Alamo Drafthouse theaters. It will feature a larger-than-usual selection of local brews, he says, and it will serve Louisiana-style cuisine. It will also have a freestanding restaurant and bar—called Glass Half Full—with patio seating. Coco says he envisions hosting crawfish boils on the patio in the spring and showing LSU football games on one of the theater screens in the fall.
“We’ve got some really cool ideas,” says Coco. “That’s what makes us different. We’re local.” —Stephanie Riegel
