Resurgence of Broadmoor and Government Street luring some RE investors to Florida Blvd

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Some see potential in a Florida Boulevard rebirth

Business Report

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Several real estate brokers see potential where others see mostly used tire stores, and believe there are plenty of opportunities along Florida Boulevard for investors and tenants alike—even without a major land use plan for redevelopment.

Among them is Andy McCall, a principal of Momentum Commercial Real Estate, who recently acquired one of Florida Boulevard’s biggest eyesores—the former Borden’s Dairy headquarters building just west of the Foster Drive intersection.

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“There’s plenty of space,” he says. “From Florida you can only see the white building but there’s a lot of infrastructure in the back, pieces of the old production facility that could have value. It needs significant renovation and partial demolition at a minimum. But we’ve already had people talking to us.”

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Beyond the Borden’s site, McCall and others point to several other positive aspects of Florida Boulevard. Among them:

• The majority of the property fronting Florida from the river to Airline Highway is zoned commercial, which allows for a lot of flexibility.

• There’s a large pocket zoned M1, or light industrial, near the intersection of Foster Drive. It’s one of the larger industrially zoned areas to be so centrally and conveniently located.

• There are plenty of good bargains, given the lower land cost, central location and accessibility.

• It’s near Government Street, which has enjoyed a considerable renaissance of late and has seen property values skyrocket.

Justin Langlois, a commercial broker with Stirling Properties, also describes himself as a fan of Florida. The key, he says, is to find the right users. “There is functional obsolesence everywhere,” he says. “But there are well-built buildings on Florida and you’ve seen some redevelopment. I think you’ll see more.”

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Langlois points to the success, in particular, of the Broadmoor Shopping Center, which was redeveloped several years ago and is now home to a Hi Nabor Supermarket and a Planet Fitness. Earlier this spring, three outparcels of the development sold—one to McDonald’s, which is relocating an older restaurant on Florida Boulevard to a new one at the new location, a Discount Tire outlet, and an urgent care clinic.

“If I had five more outparcels I could sell them all,” says Langlois, who attributes the relative health of the Broadmoor Shopping Center to a renewed interest in the nearby Broadmoor subdivision.

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Broker Jim Allen with Saurage Rotenberg hasn’t had as much luck. For more than three years, he’s been trying to sell the vacant eight-story office building on Florida between Sharp and Sherwood Forest that was formerly the headquarters building of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.

The mid-century modern mid-rise has more going for it than it might appear at first glance: It was designed by renowned architect A. Hays Town, is eligible for historic building tax credits, and features amenities like slate floors and an eighth-floor, walnut-paneled board room. Asking price for the 102,000-square-foot building has been reduced again, and is currently $2.2 million or just $21 per square foot.

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