SI checks into downtown

The conversion of the downtown Hilton into a Sports Illustrated Resort could give Baton Rouge a fresh tourism draw while testing a bigger question: whether people are finally ready to buy condos on the river downtown.

Why it matters: Baton Rouge has been leaning harder into sports as an economic engine. LSU football is the obvious force, but Southern football and the rest of LSU’s sports calendar also bring visitors, spending and a reason to build more of the city’s tourism business around games and events. Plus, the city hosts regional tournaments and has been the spot for a national bowling tournament. 

The details: A consortium of companies, backed by financing from Kituwah, is remaking the Hilton into a mix of hotel rooms, vacation ownership units and condos. The roughly $40 million conversion project would reduce the hotel from 291 rooms to 137. The rest would be converted into 42 condos, though some of those units could also function as timeshares through Travel + Leisure’s broader vacation network. The developers expect the condos to sell quickly. Construction will take up most of 2027.

The strategy: The people behind Sports Illustrated Resorts appear to be betting that college sports towns are a smarter place to grow than the usual booming Sun Belt city.

Baton Rouge fits that logic. So do Tuscaloosa and Nashville, both on an early list for SI resorts. The appeal is not just tourism in the abstract, but attachment to big brands with loyal followings, especially LSU and the SEC, which remains the heavyweight of college sports.

The downtown angle: Riverfront condos have long been one of downtown Baton Rouge’s unrealized ambitions. Developers have tried before. Richard Preis, in one of the early and ambitious efforts, could not pre-sell enough units and ran into bad market timing. That is why this project should be watched closely. If the condos sell, others may see downtown housing in a different light. And downtown needs more housing if it wants a life that lasts beyond office hours.

Casey Tate of the Downtown Development District said the agency regularly gets calls from people asking about downtown condos, which he sees as a sign of demand. He also points to the strong market for luxury apartments, including at places like RiverMark, where rents can rival or exceed what a mortgage might cost.

His logic is straightforward: if people are willing to rent at those prices, some may be willing to buy.

The risk: Not everyone is convinced.

People knowledgeable about the hotel business told RedEye that mixed-use hotels are a well-known model, but this version remains a gamble. Condo owners in such projects often face fees that can rival or exceed a mortgage payment, on top of the purchase price. The question is whether Baton Rouge has enough buyers who want that arrangement, especially for a product more common in wealthier destination markets.

The developer did not return calls before publication.

One big unknown: It is not yet clear how many of the units will function as true for-sale condos and how many could end up folded into Travel + Leisure’s broader vacation ownership network. That distinction matters. Selling downtown residential life is one thing. Selling sports-themed timeshares is another.

The design challenge: The building itself comes with constraints.

Historic tax credits limit how much the facade can be altered, and the rendering suggests the most visible change may be the new name on the front. Inside, turning a conventional, buttoned-down hotel into something that feels like an entertainment-oriented resort will not be simple.

That is one reason some observers are skeptical. The Hilton has limited unprogrammed space, which makes it harder to create the kind of social, high-energy environment the brand seems to want.

One former insider told RedEye that a ground-up project would have made more sense because it could be designed from the start around sports fans and shared spaces.

Geoff Richards, chief operating officer of Travel + Leisure’s vacation ownership division, does not seem to disagree. In a published interview, he said:  “I’d love everything to be purpose built, but purpose built right now is tough and it’s probably four years from the time you think about it to when you might open.”

What to watch: A couple of groups are considering a large multi-purpose sports facility to attract regional events, and RedEye has been told it could be located on Nicholson Drive, not far from the Hilton. One person familiar with a deep understanding of sports venues said the resort would look like a safer bet if that sports facility were already committed. A sports resort sells more easily when the sports are not hypothetical.

The bottom line: The Sports Illustrated Resort could help Baton Rouge cash in on the sports economy it already has. It could also become the clearest test yet of whether downtown riverfront condos are finally viable here.