BATON ROUGE, LA-A $23.7-million loan is helping Atlanta-based Global Asset Alternatives LLC to pave the way for an early 2007 groundbreaking on the 330-unit Preserve at Longwood Plantation. The development will take 18 months to complete.
The Preserve at Longwood Plantation will go up on 20 acres at the intersection of Nicholson Drive and Gardere Lane, about five miles south of Louisiana State University. David Collie with iCap Realty Advisors LLC of Atlanta says the project is Global Asset's first in the city, but not its last. "They're currently pursuing other opportunities," Collie.
Collie tells GlobeSt.com that the financing consisted of a short-term, non-recourse construction loan at market rates from the Atlanta office of Chicago-based Wrightwood Capital. The residential development is being launched at a time when overall demand for housing is on the rise. Luxury apartments, in particular, are in high demand in Baton Rouge, driving Global Assets to join a long line of other developers trying to supply the market.
According to a prepared statement from John L. Davis, senior director with Wrightwood Capital, the strong multifamily market was good incentive for financing. "The Baton Rouge apartment market is very healthy, with low vacancy rates and increasing rents," he says in a press release. "Preserve at Longwood Plantation is well positioned for a number of reasons, including increasing demand for affordable housing, continued new development in the immediate area and proximate location to LSU and the Mall of Louisiana corridor."
The Preserve at Longwood Plantation will feature units from 800 sf to 1,800 sf. Lease rates have not been set, but rents for other luxury apartments in the city are ranging from $400 to $900 per month.
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