Sun rising on Downtown East
Investors are building in a new area of downtown, and nearby Mid City
A part of Baton Rouge that has long sat in the shadows of downtown and Government Street is showing signs of real life.
Two investors, Anthony Kimble and John Jackson, are betting that Downtown East and the surrounding Government Street area are ready for more than blight and unrealized potential.
The big picture: This is how urban revival usually starts here: Not with one grand civic gesture, but with a series of people willing to risk real money on the idea that a neglected district can become useful again.
Kimble is among them. His firm, Kimble Properties, is remaking the former Lincoln Hotel, just off Government near I-110, into 12 apartments and two commercial spaces. The $4.5 million project is expected to be completed by year-end. He is also working on other apartment projects nearby, adding to a stretch that has seen more housing and mixed-income development over the past decade.
Jackson is making a different kind of bet.
The former video company owner is investing $5 million in the Providence Engineering building on Main Street, turning it into Creative Bloc, a workspace for small firms and creative operators. The project will be completed next summer. His first location is on Nicholson, near LSU.
What’s planned: Jackson says the building will include co-working space and two warehouses. One will be a climate-controlled co-warehouse space that can be leased by marketing firms, event companies and others that occasionally need extra storage but do not want to rent an entire warehouse year-round.
Why this site could work: Jackson says the building comes with unusual advantages. It will use historic tax credits for the renovation. It also sits in an Opportunity Zone and an Arts and Cultural District, opening the door to incentives for businesses that lease space there.
He wants to partner with the city to help minority-owned businesses get started there, potentially through lower rents and tax credits that could help employers hire workers from the surrounding neighborhood.
Between the lines: Downtown East has been inching forward for years, but the pieces are beginning to connect. The area now has more nearby housing than it once did. Newer businesses in Mid City and Downtown East, including Red Stick Social, City Roots Coffee and nearby clubs, have helped create at least the beginnings of momentum. The former Lincoln Theater is being restored and will add a museum and cultural center.