re: Will Gentrification Ever Happen in Baton Rouge?

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I told you the economics of that deal were greatly misunderstood and you proved my point perfectly when you said you heard the government put up most of the funds for construction.

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I asked for information as you seemed to be more knowledgeable than I. Perhaps, I did misunderstand the deal.
Now I shouldn’t said the govt. put up more than half the money for construction. I corrected that said they put up 74 million dollars for the project. I got my information here. I don’t know what the construction costs were.

LINK /

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According to the Associated Press, "the project involves about $74 million in public money over 12 years. Louisiana Economic Development is offering $29.5 million over 12 years - including $1.5 million in local money - for workforce costs and facility operation. State, federal and city money will put up a $30.5 million office building on the old Advocate newspaper site. It's to be developed by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation's real estate trust. The state is also providing $14 million over 10 years to increase the number of computer science graduates in Louisiana. At least 65 percent will expand Louisiana State University's computer science division."

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You responded to me in a snarky way and asserted things I never said. Why are you so sensitive?

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If you have a problem with the project as a whole, that’s fine. I won’t dispute that. But if you think the developer didn’t have to pass on more profitable projects due to its commitment to the IBM deal, you are mistaken.

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All I said was the developer did well. I said that because if all the governmental help they received. If my opinion is wrong show me where. That’s all I ask.

And I never said anything about passing up other opportunities. I don’t know if they did or did not. My interest was in the IBM project only. It was touted as a big deal for EBR, LSU and our community.

Thxs fir the information.

No. Areas that get rebuilt have charm, character and history.

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All I said was the developer did well. I said that because if all the governmental help they received. If my opinion is wrong show me where. That’s all I ask.

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I probably should’ve started by asking you to clarify what you meant by them doing very well. That’s my fault.

They didn’t really benefit from the 30.5m put up for construction because that basically just covered the cost of the IBM commercial space and parking garage. The rest of the funding you mentioned was dedicated to things like IBM operating expense reimbursements. It’s difficult to carve all of that out and evaluate the rest of the project in a vacuum, but if you did I don’t think it would meet your definition of very well.

We fell for that BS decades ago. After being victimized and facing criminals several times, we figured out what a bad idea this was and left.
Not looking back now.
But there are a lot of young and gullible people out there...

I had been hoping to see some gentrification along 110/Spanishtown. That's good, elevated land and already set into grid patterns (meaning little chance of flooding and easy handling of traffic). The building of more and more Section 8 apartments down there pretty much ixnays that idea.

There may have been a chance at some gentrification along some of the areas you mentioned, but the new bridge and expanded capacity in the 110-12 corridor will likely help facilitate more movement across the river (since south along 10 and east on 12 are at capacity for people to want to look elsewhere).

All that said, I'm really surprised there hasn't been more growth along 61 from the plants to St Francisville yet.

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It’s a solid, affordable neighborhood that’s isn’t too far from the big employers on Essen, Corporate/Jefferson, and the big industrial facilities in north Baton Rouge. Easy to get to the private schools. It’s not the easiest commute from downtown and LSU though.

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If you drive down S.Sherwood past the crackheads and the section 8 housing(the real problem) the office buildings are all being renovated or rebuilt. EFCU is moving its HQ there.

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Would you change your opinion if you considered that after 15 years the ownership gets the building without strings attached? That may be the kicker. 42 million dollars. Cheap money when the invested. The original deal expires around 2030. They could sell the project then? Keep it and make the rent? Now I don’t know, but the developers surely have their plans. They got a lot of assistance, they were smart enough to do that. I would suspect they were smart enough to put together a good business plan to take advantage of their good fortune.

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This is a great point that I meant to comment on earlier. The IBM lease does expire per the agreement, but I still don’t think that changes the equation enough to justify the investment. You’re making a huge sacrifice in the short term and tying up a bunch of capital for a substantial period of time while having very little control over what happens between now and then. I guess they could monetize the future value of that space at a deep discount today, but I doubt there are a bunch of investors waiting in line to have exposure to that cooperative endeavor agreement. They’ve already had to modify it due to IBM not meeting their hiring quota. It’s certainly going to change again.

The developer got a lot of assistance, there’s no question about that. I just think if you run the numbers, they could’ve found a better use for their capital if they were focused on maximizing returns. That developer exists as a support organization for BRAF though, so they have goals beyond just turning a profit.

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That developer exists as a support organization for BRAF though, so they have goals beyond just turning a profit.

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That developer had been involved in some controversial deals. The exact arrangement they have with BEAF had been called into question before. From what I understand they are not a non profit.

A while back someone did an expose’ of how it all worked. Maybe we can find it.