The team working on the master plan to boost economic development along the Florida Boulevard corridor recently completed a final draft and will present it to the Planning Commission at next month’s meeting.
Following the trail of tens of millions in investment along Florida Boulevard, partners have devised a plan for the 12-mile stretch of roadway along Florida.
“We have completed a thorough outreach plan with the help of local outreach from Franklin and Associates,” says Gretchen Siemers, vice president of planning and policy for Build Baton Rouge, a partner in the plan. “We’ve done a comprehensive survey, several events, in-person and virtual meetings and we have a very solid plan that includes land use, transportation, urban design and economic development. This plan will impact the length of Florida from the river to the Livingston Parish line. It does not change any zoning or any land use policy immediately. It’s creating a framework for future implementation efforts.”
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The plan is being funded through a tax increment financing district established in 2021 around the Amazon fulfillment center on the site of the former Cortana Mall.
The plan is being administered by the Cortana Corridor Economic District, created in 2021 in cooperation with Build Baton Rouge, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr.
The project’s lead designer is Perkins & Will, a global architecture firm that has worked on other Baton Rouge projects including the Water Institute of the Gulf’s Center for Coastal and Deltaic Studies, LSU’s Patrick F. Taylor Hall, and the campus of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.
The plans include six neighborhood centers designated as I-110 Stitch, Mid City, Foster & Florida, Bon Carre, Cortana, and Sherwood. The plan also identifies opportunity sites, which are parcels or groups of parcels that offer potential for future redevelopment based
on ownership, scale, frontage, and other unique features. Among the opportunity sites are Belle Aire Plaza Shopping Center and a vacant shopping center on 8 acres aside from Latinos Supermarket.
According to the project website, a neighborhood center provides residents with amenities and facilities within walking distance to enable healthy lifestyles and improve quality of life.
“We looked at every single parcel along the entire corridor, and we saw where the trends were for increased investment and where the highest needs were for more investment,” Siemers says regarding the selection of the neighborhood centers. “From there, we workshopped these areas with our advisory committee.”
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If the Planning Commission approves the plan, it will then go before the Metro Council.
View the full plan.
This story originally appeared in a July 18 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.