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# A prime plot with an infamous past
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/a-prime-plot-with-an-infamous-past/
- Published: 2026-10-16T01:04:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T01:04:05.000Z
- Description: The former Champion Insurance building is being razed quickly. The Mid City property is 8 acres in a prime spot for redevelopment.
- Author: Mukul Verma
- Tags: News

Construction crews are razing a prime Mid City property that was once home to Champion Insurance, the failed auto insurer whose collapse sent one of its owners and then-Insurance Commissioner Doug Green to prison.

**Why it matters:** The eight-acre site is in a diverse, growing part of Mid City, transformed in part by the rearrangement of Government Street.

**The details:** The property had two buildings totaling nearly 60,000 square feet.

- Capital Area Human Services District occupied the site after Champion folded.
- The property was later sold to Ryan Heck, a former Metro Council member who owns a sizable concrete business.
- It has been on the market for several years.

**Yes, but:** Demolishing the buildings doesn’t mean a new project is imminent.

- No construction permit has been issued.
- A for-sale sign remains on the property.
- The agent who is selling the building did not immediately return a call.

**The big picture:** The site is 4615 Government Street, a block from South Foster Drive. Its nearby smaller buildings have been sold and are ready for new tenants. Dutch Bros. also plans to open nearby. Grand Construction is moving its new headquarters into the former Brew-Bacher’s, across from Superior Grill.

**What could happen:** Baton Rouge real estate professionals have said the site would be ideal for a mixed-use development with housing, apartments and retail, or perhaps a boutique hotel—something Government currently lacks.

**A notorious past:** Champion Insurance once had its headquarters there. Louisiana’s third-largest auto insurer, it famously flamed out amid a corruption scandal in June 1989.

Company owner John M. Eicher Jr. and members of his family were accused of creating a false appearance of financial solvency for policyholders while Champion crumbled under the weight of claims it couldn’t pay.

Eicher served time in federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud, forgery and bribery.

Green, the former insurance commissioner, served 12 years in federal prison after companies backed by Eicher helped bankroll his 1987 campaign. Green took more than $2.7 million in bribes to help conceal Champion’s deteriorating financial condition. 

**The bottom line:** No guarantee that razing buildings that housed an auto insurer means a new life for a big piece of land on Government, but the move reduces the cost of redevelopment somewhat and showcases the lots to people driving by. 

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