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# Twenty acres of maybe
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/twenty-acres-of-maybe/
- Published: 2026-09-30T01:27:33.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-30T01:27:33.000Z
- Description: The parish has fielded offers for about 20 riverfront acres on Nicholson Drive.
- Author: Mukul Verma

The old stormwater plant on Nicholson Drive is almost gone now, razed down to open ground by the river. And the offers have been coming in: a cement plant, housing, commercial projects, even a park, sources tell *RedEye*. 

Department of Public Works Director William Daniel says the parish hasn't decided what to do with the land, only that whatever goes there should be its best use, generate tax revenue and improve the quality of life.

**Why it matters:** Those 20 acres sit in the Nicholson corridor, the stretch some civic leaders have long dreamed of filling in between Baton Rouge's two anchors: downtown and LSU. Lately, a second reason has been bubbling up. With talk of Baton Rouge going it alone as a city, a dense corridor stops being a nice idea and starts looking like a necessity—a place to generate the sales and property taxes a new city would need.

**Catching up:** When the new stormwater plant opened off Gardere Lane, the one on Nicholson was shut down. Under Mayor Kip Holden, Daniel was ready to tear it down. Mayor Sharon Weston Broome set that work aside. With Daniel back in city government, Mayor Sid Edwards' administration finally razed the plant and expects to put the land to use, but for now it is minding the fundamentals of running a city: safety, blight and the basic services residents count on. 

**The details:** Daniel tells *RedEye* that unsolicited offers have come in, including manufacturing and housing developments.

"We are interested in anything that would make sense for the city. We really think the Nicholson corridor, with the interest LSU has and the interest the city has, will be one of the places where we concentrate our efforts. I'm really confident exciting things are going to happen there."

**The backstory:** A federal grant was once lined up to pay for a tram on Nicholson from LSU to downtown, rails meant to coax density along the route. Broome stopped it in favor of a Bus Rapid Transit line running from Plank Road through downtown and down Nicholson. That line is nearly finished and will be run by CATS.

**Meanwhile,** drive Nicholson today and you'll see a corridor already changing:

- Commercial Properties Realty Trust and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation built the [Water Campus](https://thewatercampus.org/?ref=redeyebr.com), with its landmark building on the river and a link to River Road.
- The state built a new I-10 exit to improve traffic flow.
- The East Baton Rouge Housing Authority put up townhouses on Nicholson.
- Some property owners are renovating older housing, and D.R. Horton built a row of two-story homes off Nicholson, closer to LSU.
- On Burbank near Nicholson, LSU and private firms are raising more than 5,000 new student beds. LSU may also build an arena and mixed-use development on its former golf course.
- Past Tigerland, several owners of large tracts are quietly drawing up plans.
- Commercial Properties also owns about 30 acres on Nicholson ready for development. The firm is keeping quiet on details but has said it will pair single-family homes with denser buildings on the river side of the street.

**But, wait:** For all the money moving in—perhaps more than a billion dollars—what may be the most important stretch of road in Baton Rouge has no master plan. Without one, the fear is that Nicholson grows up the way Siegen Lane did, left to development with thin rules and traffic jams to show for it.

**The bottom line:** Nicholson is a rare opportunity for infill growth along an existing road, where the parish doesn't have to pay for new streets and drainage. The land where the stormwater plant stood could become the centerpiece of a master plan. Follow that plan, and Baton Rouge could get a great place worth living in, along with the tax dollars that come with it. That's money a new city would need if it ever decides to leave the parish behind.

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