Life after five
An apartment development on an entire block of downtown is inching forward.
Site plans have been approved for a downtown apartment complex that would fill an entire block of North Boulevard, a signal that a long-promised project is moving toward construction.
Why it matters: Downtown housing is what keeps a city center alive after 5 p.m. In Baton Rouge, as in a lot of cities, the old model of downtown as a nine-to-five employment hub is fading. What replaces it depends on getting people to actually live there, enough of them to fill restaurant tables, keep entertainment venues busy, and give retailers a reason to open for business.
The details:
- Key Real Estate and downtown property owner John O. Hearin announced plans for about 250 or so beds on North Boulevard more than two years ago.
- The apartments would rise across from Hearin's existing complex, which is the Heron on Convention Street. It opened in 2018.
- The new project, Heron II, is on the agenda for the Downtown Development District commission meeting tomorrow.
DDD Executive Director Whitney Hoffman Sayal said the developers, Hearin and Key's Michael Lang, aren't expected at the meeting, but that she's spoken with them and they've told her the project is moving forward. Hearin and Lang did not return calls seeking more detail.
The bigger picture: Downtown apartment complexes in Baton Rouge are running very high occupancy, a market practically waving a flag for more units. But high construction costs and expensive financing have stalled projects here and across the country.
