Perkins Rowe manager heads back to Minnesota

Published Aug 16, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Aug 16, 2012)

Exactly three years after coming to Baton Rouge to manage Perkins Rowe, Rick Balow of Jones Lang LaSalle is moving back to his native Minnesota to assume a new position with the property management company. JLL was appointed by a federal district judge to take over and manage the mixed-use development in August 2009 after the main lender on the project, KeyBank National Association, initiated foreclosure proceedings against its developer, Tommy Spinosa. As the suit has wended its way through the federal courts in the three years since, Balow has taken a development that was plagued with problems—including liens, lawsuits, unfinished construction projects, high turnover and endless negative publicity—and turned it into one of the most popular and successful retail destinations in the metro area. In a letter to friends and employees, Balow writes: "I'm very proud of all that we accomplished here at Perkins Rowe and am eternally grateful to each of you for the part you played in helping us/me to make that happen. I will take away fond memories of our efforts together to make Perkins Rowe the property that it is today." Balow's announcement comes just days after U.S. District Judge James Brady cleared the way for KeyBank to move forward with its foreclosure of Perkins Rowe. For more on Balow, check out this 2010 profile from Business Report here. —Stephanie Riegel