Existing business types: Commercial Zones
Five commercial zones currently exist in Downtown Baton Rouge
• Beauregard Town – Largely residential, with supporting services and restaurants along North Boulevard and Government Street
• Spanish Town – Primarily residential, with limited commercial development. Currently, there is a successful small neighborhood market at Seventh Street and Spanish Town Road.
• Third Street Corridor – Two disconnected blocks of commercial activity exist on Third Street. Restaurant / entertainment and businesses occupy the block between North Boulevard and Convention, while core retail and offices occupy the block between Florida and Laurel Streets.
• Main Street – Sporadic commercial uses exist on Main Street, primarily arts and crafts shops at River Road, changing to banking and offices and a cleaners between Third and Seventh Streets.
• Catfish Town – The Catfish Town complex is composed of a 50,000 SF. atrium, which is used as a family entertainment complex related to the Argosy Casino. Adjacent to Catfish Town is the Centroplex Arena and the USS Kidd.
[Catfish Town has been renamed Baton Rouge Landing. Almost half of the atrium has been converted to lobby space and restaurant area for the Sheraton Hotel.]
Physically Downtown Baton Rouge is composed of a regular grid pattern, creating approximately 320ft x 320ft blocks. The core area is eight blocks long running east-west between the Mississippi River and Interstate 10, and five blocks wide running north/south between Beauregard Town and Spanish Town (North Boulevard and North Street respectively).
As the rail lines arrived in Baton Rouge in the 1880’s, commerce moved to Third Street and continued east on Main, leaving Front Street to develop as an industrial corridor. Residential development began to fill in on Second (currently Lafayette Street). By 1900, Third Street was the center of the retail activity, due in large part to its higher elevation, as the levees were not yet constructed. At this time, the wharf was located at the base of Main Street, along with a ferry dock connecting Baton Rouge to Port Allen and the western United States.
Between 1950 and 1965, the Third Street retail corridor was at its peak. Shoppers were able to walk along the covered arcades to such shops as Sears, J. C. Penny’s, Daltons, Kress, and Rosenfield’s department stores. The Paramount, Hart, and Louisiana theaters were the entertainment anchors of the day, and restaurants such as Piccadilly Cafeteria drew both shoppers and office workers. Above the storefronts, residential apartments and offices filled the second, third, and fourth floors. 
Kress Dept. Store
Third Street retail began to decline in the late 1960’s and 1970’s as consumers moved away from the Central Business District. Delmont Village developed along Plank Road north of the city in 1960, and with it, retail districts began to leave downtown Baton Rouge and develop around the new neighborhoods. In the 1960’s retail made a significant shift out of the CBD and settled east along Florida Boulevard to the Bon Marche Shopping Center. Florida Boulevard continued to prosper for the next twenty-five years attracting strip plazas, big box retailers and the Mall at Cortana in 1976.
By the mid 1980’s, nearly all major retailers had left the CBD.
The state has embarked on a visionary redevelopment plan for the area around the State Capitol. Under the leadership of the Foster administration and its Commissioner of Administration, Mark Drennen, the plan surged into action during the late 1990s. The key objectives of the ambitious Capitol Park plan are to consolidate state government operations within a centralized, cost-effective campus and to enhance and facilitate the experience of the Capitol area as a historical, educational and tourism asset. The project also has been carefully integrated with efforts by multiple community partners to revive the entire downtown area. So far, a series of four new state government office buildings have arisen following the elegant principle at the heart of the Capitol Park design guided by architect Skipper Post: use the architectural language and sculptural ornamentation of the Capitol Building itself as the major source of stylistic references for all new development within the complex.
Although Downtown Baton Rouge has three distinct consumer segments, it faces relatively strong and strengthening competition. In particular, the new Mall of Louisiana attracts the entire Baton Rouge market. Additional retail along the Interstate 10 and Airline Highway corridors also competes with Downtown. Currently, these locations are outpacing the Downtown largely by default. Given the limited amount and quality of retail located in Downtown Baton Rouge, consumers do not have much of an alternative to shopping in these suburban centers.
A number of factors affect the ability of the Downtown to absorb this new retail activity. Many existing structures in the study area are in need of repair or renovation to better utilize their commercial street level space and develop uses for upper floors. Current traffic patterns harm shopping due to confusing access routes into and around the city, as well as poor signage. In addition to encouraging shoppers to travel to Downtown, increasing housing opportunities within the study area is essential. A larger population of people living in the Downtown area will support increased retail while returning Baton Rouge to a twenty-four hour city.
Also detailed in this report are a variety of visual and practical merchandising steps for the central business district to pursue. Recommendations include improvements to streetscape, lighting, parking, signage, traffic and tenant mix. These recommendations recognize that any downtown expansion or renovation must be designed to reinforce Baton Rouge’s unique historical and architectural characteristics.
Downtown Baton Rouge is capable of supporting an additional 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurant establishments, capturing an additional $54 million in annual revenue. It is recommended that the commercial growth primarily occupy Third Street between Main and North Boulevard. Additional service retail and a Public Market are recommended at Main Street between River Road and Seventh Street. The commercial growth is recommended to occupy new infill buildings and existing buildings that are presently vacant or underutilized.
Specifically, the recommended supportable tenants for the Downtown area include (Exihibit A):
Department Store 150,000 SF
Public Market 15,000 SF
Drug / Convenience Stores 20,000 SF
Arts / Crafts / Antiques 20,000 SF
Restaurant / Bar 17,000 SF
Personal Services 2,500 SF
Coffee / Bagel Shops 3,900 SF
Music 2,000 SF
Office Supply 15,000 SF
Book Store 18,000 SF
Ice Cream Parlor 1,000 SF
Apparel 18,000 SF
Fashion Footwear 5,000 SF
Fast Food 3,000 SF
Health Club 10,000 SF
For more on recommendations on tenant types go to:
http://www.planbr.org/plan/general/cd/cd03.html
For a directory of the current businesses in Baton Rouge go to: http://www.batonrouge.com/directory.cfm
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