New apartments planned at Perkins Rowe

Published Oct 17, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Oct 17, 2012)

As Perkins Rowe tips slowly toward a foreclosure sale, development interest in the mixed-use project has not waned. Last week an application for a 334-unit apartment complex for the rear of Perkins Rowe, near the intersection of Bluebonnet Boulevard and Perkins Road, was submitted to the city-parish Planning Commission. "It will basically be behind The Neuromedical Center," says Art Lancaster, a representative for "a group of local investors" in The Woodlands at Perkins Rowe. "To get to it, you would have to go through Perkins Rowe." Lancaster won't name the investors, but insists developer J.T. "Tommy" Spinosa is not involved. Nor is the land connected to KeyBank National Association, of Cleveland, which is requesting to sell Perkins Rowe at a foreclosure price of about $86 million. The Woodlands site was bought from First Bank & Trust Company, Lancaster says. Spinosa's court battle did not hamper or delay the acquisition, he adds. The Woodlands also will tie in with the future Picardy Perkins Connector, says Lancaster, a four-lane Green Light Plan project that will provide an alternative route between Interstate 10 and Perkins Road and also connect with the Mall of Louisiana. Lancaster says The Woodlands could break ground as early as spring of next year and be constructed within 24 months. Multifamily units with close proximity to Perkins Rowe, L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge, and the new Woman's Hospital are in demand, Lancaster says. "Occupancy rates are very high," says Lancaster. —Adam Pearson