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Real estate agent Dorsey Peek grew up in Bocage and has lived there most of her adult life. Two of her siblings live there too, as do four sets of first cousins, and two aunts and uncles. And Peek is not alone among residents of the upscale subdivision that live surrounded by extended family members; she can name others like herself.

“Once you live there, it’s hard to ever move out,” she says.

Whether it’s the family ties, convenient location, upscale homes or a combination of all three, the subdivision commonly referred to as Bocage is one of the hottest neighborhoods in Baton Rouge these days. Home sale prices have continued to climb to nearly $200 per square foot on average—and in some individual cases much more—and teardowns in the subdivision fetch as much as $400,000. Though the market has leveled a bit since the immediate post-Katrina frenzy, those familiar with the area see no end in sight to the upward trend.

“As long as there are plenty of jobs in Baton Rouge, which there are, then I think prices will continue to rise,” says Andrea McKey, another real estate agent who has lived in the neighborhood for the past three years.

The subdivision actually comprises two developments. The first is Jefferson Place, which was developed in the late 1940s and 1950s and sits farther back from Jefferson Highway. Bocage, which is located closer to Jefferson Highway, was developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Both share a one-way entrance, and the demarcation between the two is indistinguishable.

Both have also shown a tremendous increase in value in recent years. The average home sale price this year tops $700,000, which is a 23% increase over 2006 and even with what it was in 2005. The average price per square foot, meanwhile, climbed to $177 in 2007 from $153 in 2006 and $165 in 2005.

That 2007 figures have bounced back to their 2005 levels shows just how strong market demand is for homes in the area. Figures from ’05 were distorted in the months after Hurricane Katrina, as well-heeled, displaced New Orleanians flocked to the neighborhood that reminded them of Old Metairie in Jefferson Parish.

“We always do a big tent on the front lawn for all the neighbors on Halloween, and that year after Katrina all the folks from Old Metairie started seeing each other and reconnecting at that party,” Peek recalls. “They were saying it was so great because it was like Metairie but they all felt so safe.”

While prices in 2006 leveled off a bit—what some might call a market correction—they have climbed again in 2007. Granted, in older neighborhoods, price averages can be somewhat misleading. Unlike new subdivisions, where lots are all of similar size and homes are of comparable age, there’s a wide variation among the properties in Bocage.

Some of the original homes in Jefferson Place were built nearly 50 years ago and are small by the standards of the neighborhood—between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet. What few still stand went for reasonable prices in the $325,000-$350,000 range earlier this year. Reasonable, that is, until you consider they were likely purchased as teardowns. Real estate agents say Bocage was one of the first neighborhoods in Baton Rouge to experience the teardown phenomenon, and in the five or so years since it began, lot values have soared.

Consider that in 2001, for instance, the average home sale price was less than $371,000. Back then, the average price per square foot was a modest $108. Today, it’s a different story.

“Some of these teardowns go for as much as $400,000 now,” says Paul Burns, a real estate agent and longtime Bocage resident who bought into the subdivision for $73.50 a square foot in the mid-1980s. “People want higher ceilings, more open living areas, bigger kitchens—different amenities than in the ’50s and ’60s.”

Photo by Brian Baiamonte

TEARING DOWN, BUILDING UP: A new house is under construction on the site of a teardown on Boyce Drive. Real estate agents say Bocage was one of the first Baton Rouge subdivisions to experience the teardown phenomenon, and in the five or so years since it began, lot values have soared.

But they want their new home amenities in an older, established neighborhood. Those homes command top dollar, too. New homes, and those less than 10 years old, sold for an average of $201 per square foot over the past three years. Most of those homes were larger than 4,000 square feet, which drove the average sale price for newer homes to more than $800,000.

For those who live in the area, though, what makes Bocage so desirable is not the price of the homes or the prestige as much as the security of living in a well-established, tree-lined, close-knit community. With only a single street leading into and out of the subdivision, there’s little traffic in the neighborhood that doesn’t belong—and a 24-hour security guard makes sure it stays that way. Kids ride bikes and roam the area with a sense of security reminiscent of the era when the original homes in the neighborhood were constructed.

“It’s such a kid-friendly neighborhood, you almost can’t believe it,” says McKey, who has five children. “My three youngest are boys and the house we bought sits on a big lot at the end of a dead end, so it fit our needs perfectly.”

Location is another factor working in favor of Bocage. Longtime residents remember when their subdivision was surrounded by pasture and considered the outskirts of town. That changed when Corporate Boulevard was constructed in the early 1990s. Since then, merchants have migrated to the area, culminating with the 2005 opening of Towne Center at Cedar Lodge, which brought with it a mix of upscale retail and office space. A large, gated community of McMansions, called Bocage Lakes, has sprung up since then, and more new construction is under way.

Whether Bocage can continue to command the kind of top dollar it has been for the past several years remains to be seen, but those familiar with the area are bullish.

“As long as the economy in Baton Rouge is strong, and I believe it will be, demand for this area will remain high,” McKey says.