Developer seeking BR planning approval to replace El Cid with 7-story apartment complex

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An Austin-based multifamily housing developer is set to go before the East Baton Rouge Parish Planning and Zoning Commission with a request to tear down several aging apartment complexes between Burbank Drive and Gourrier Avenue and replace them with a 1,022-bed student housing development.

The small planned unit development proposed by LV Collective is on the agenda for the commission’s June 15 meeting. If approved, it would go before the Metro Council on July 15. If the Metro Council approves the development, construction would start at the end of the year.

LV wants to redevelop a 4.58-acre tract bordered by Milford, Gourrier and Janet avenues, West Parker Boulevard and Burbank Drive. The El Cid and Embassy Courts apartments are on the site.

Those apartments would be demolished to make room for a seven-story apartment building atop a parking garage and a five-story building with an attached eight-story garage. The total development would have 338 units, in studio, 1-,2-,3-,4-,5- and 6-bedroom units.

LV Collective has several upscale student apartment complexes operating around the country under the Rambler name, including properties near Ohio State University, Georgia Tech, the University of Texas, the University of Florida and the University of Georgia. The company is developing several student apartment complexes set to open in summer/fall 2028: a 922-bed high-rise student apartment complex in College Station, Texas, across the street from Texas A&M University; a 749-unit development near Clemson University; and an 862-bed complex near Virginia Tech.

Craig Davenport, of the appraisal firm Cook, Moore, Davenport and Associates, said the move to buy existing apartment complexes and tear them down to make room for brand-new upscale developments is being driven by the market.

Over the past year, seven LSU-area apartment complexes sold for $358.8 million, or almost $91,000 per bed. That includes the Park Place Baton Rouge development close to the site of the LV project, which was purchased by a New York investment group in July for $82 million or $110,000 a bed.

“When developers see those kind of sale prices, they can afford to buy properties and tear them down,” Davenport said.

The LV development is near another demolition-and-rebuilding project. Houston-based Dinerstein Companies bought the 150-unit Tiger Pointe apartments in the summer, located across Milford Avenue from El Cid. Sterling Tiger Pointe, a 781-bed development, is set to open on the site next year.

The reason for the strong appetite for student apartments is the steady increase in on-campus enrollment at LSU. The number of students attending LSU has gone up 13% from fall 2021 to fall 2025. That’s led to problems with parking and to LSU offering incoming Baton Rouge-area students bonuses if they choose to live at home instead of moving into dorms.

Former LSU President William F. Tate IV looked to expand enrollment across the board during his tenure heading up the university. However, Wade Rousse, the new LSU System president, told the Louisiana Illuminator last week that the university may cap enrollment one day.

“This is all fueled by enrollment,” Davenport said.

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