Who is Hunden Partners?

Hunden Partners, a Chicago consulting firm most Baton Rouge residents have never heard of, will play a significant role in the latest reimagining of downtown and the proposed LSU arena project.

Why it matters: Attorney and developer Charles Landry, Sasaki and Oak View Group are attracting the headlines, but Hunden Partners is playing a key behind-the-scenes role in a series of projects dubbed "a string of pearls."

Who they are: Hunden Partners is a Chicago-based destination real estate advisory firm founded in 2006 by Rob Hunden.

• The company says it has completed more than 1,000 studies tied to over $20 billion in projects worldwide.
• Its national portfolio includes college and professional sports facilities, mixed-use destination districts, convention centers, hotels and youth sports complexes—the same categories now on the table for LSU and the downtown area.
• Steve Haemmerle, of Hunden Partners and the point person in Baton Rouge, previously led the master plan for the Navy Pier redevelopment in Chicago and also worked with the University of Kansas on its Gateway District, a close cousin, structurally, to what LSU is considering.

Already at work: Hunden's Baton Rouge résumé began with a 2024 regional entertainment study funded jointly by BRAC, BRAF, the Downtown Development District and Visit Baton Rouge.

• That study's central finding was blunt: more than $1 billion in planned entertainment investments were moving forward in silos, competing instead of cooperating.
• Metro Council unanimously approved Hunden last September as the city-parish's Owner's Advisor on the River Center project.

A string of projects: A city-parish planning document describes Hunden's study as exploring how the LSU arena, River Center complex and Memorial Park could work together.

• Hunden's only two confirmed paid contracts remain the River Center advisory role and the LSU arena feasibility study.

The River Center pitch: Hunden's recommendation would turn the aging complex into a modern convention venue anchored by a 350-room headquarters hotel.

• Plans call for a new ballroom, meeting rooms, a 40,000-square-foot flex hall and a concert venue with a capacity of 3,500 seats.
• Hunden is now coordinating directly with Sasaki, the design firm leading Plan Baton Rouge III, to keep both efforts aligned.

Leapfrogging the competition: Hunden's recommendation and Metro Council approval move Baton Rouge closer to "leapfrogging the competition in the economically impactful convention market," said Jill Kidder, president and CEO of Visit Baton Rouge.

Working with LSU, too: The Tiger Athletic Foundation separately hired Hunden to study a proposed $400 million arena on the former campus golf course near Nicholson Drive and Gourrier Avenue.

• The arena study traces back to the same 2024 regional assessment, though it runs as a separate engagement.
• A change of leadership at LSU, funding questions, escalating construction and finance costs, and controversy surrounding Oak View Group, the developer expected to be tabbed for the $400 million, 12,500-seat arena, have delayed the project's progress.
• Nothing is signed. LSU's Board of Supervisors has not voted on a deal, and the timeline has already slipped past multiple targets.

The bottom line: Hunden Partners may be a new name in the mix, but it's been working behind the scenes for more than two years and has a significant voice in numerous landscape-defining projects.