Vision City looking for ‘game-changing’ developments outside of downtown

Vision City Development Group principals John Schneider, Brace Godfrey III and Derek Fitch are closely associated with downtown Baton Rouge through their work in Cyntreniks, which redeveloped the Kress at Third & Main and the Hotel King, now known as Hotel Indigo. But Schneider says Vision City now is looking to identify projects in Mid City, Old South Baton Rouge and north Baton Rouge as well as downtown. “We’ve identified at least one or more projects within each of those areas that has the potential to meet the criteria of what we call ‘game-changing,’ ” Schneider says. He mentions the Shaw Center downtown as an example of a quintessential game-changing development that had an impact on the surrounding area. He says Vision City is meeting with investment groups that work in the various areas, with an announcement planned before the end of the year. The group will be taking on at least one major project in 2012, he says, adding that their experience downtown will inform their future efforts. “Before, we had the excuse that we didn’t know what we didn’t know,” Schneider says. “Now, we know what we should know.” For the rest of Real Estate Weekly, click here. —David Jacobs