Office RE Bust hits Baton Rouge: Owners default on One American Place Tower

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It's 83% occupied which isn't great, but it's not horrible either

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That building is huge and it’s downtown. That’s about the highest occupancy it will get.

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JPMorgan Chase in August 2018. The agreement called for One American Place to make monthly debt service payments, and then pay off the loan on its maturity date of Sept. 1, 2023.

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So someone was betting they could hold on to it for a few years and then flip it for a big profit. I guess Covid really fricked their plans.

Downtown BR has other options, too. There are about 3-4 other tall office buildings available within a decent radius.

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There's a huge housing shortage and a glut of CRE available

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As a contractor, we're seeing more and more planned residential units in former office buildings in downtown Shreveport. Surely it's the same in Baton Rouge as well.

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As a contractor, we're seeing more and more planned residential units in former office buildings in downtown Shreveport. Surely it's the same in Baton Rouge as well.

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Would you be willing to expand on why a developer might think this is a good idea, specifically in these high crime cities?

I understand the river is there and there is more entertainment in that specific area (casinos, bars, food, etc.), but when I see downtown Shreveport, unless things have drastically changed, there are a lot of empty storefronts and, if I live in an apartment, a less than safe walk to my nearest grocery store/coffee shop.

I'm a BIG proponent of urban living, and if you tell me I can get a job that pays above median salary for my profession in downtown Shreveport and I can safely live my life without needing my vehicle more than a few times a week, I'm in. Reputation of Shreveport be damned, that sounds great.

But placing apartments in an "urban" area doesn't make the area thrive. If you build it (renovate it) they will come, sure, but there also has to be economic opportunity and some advantage over Dallas or Little Rock. Again, coming from someone who would gladly be a test subject in said area if I wasn't concerned about my safety.

I'm actually looking for insight into this, not being a dick.

In general, I find that downtown has decent amenities during the workday in most normal weeks but is a fricking ghost town on the weekends with regards to most restaurants, shopping, etc.


You still get events at the River Center and people bar hopping on the weekend but, in general, there are few reasons to be there on the weekend.

I wouldn't take a building in downtown Baton Rouge even if you just threw me the keys.

It's continuing to get worse, not better.

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Would you be willing to expand on why a developer might think this is a good idea, specifically in these high crime cities?

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I can't speak to other cities, but crime in downtown Shreveport really isn't that bad in almost all areas. There's a couple of spots where the clubs are that might not be the safest places to be on a weekend night. But for the most part it's so empty of commerce that it's almost peaceful. A gas station and real grocery store would do well as more people move downtown.

That makes sense. Again, maybe this is me having blinders on as someone not investing in these properties, I don’t want a quiet downtown area if I’m going to live downtown. I want a bustling downtown that’s safe enough. If I wanted calm and quiet I’d live in a rural area, and if I wanted to be close enough to amenities, I’d live in the burbs.

Maybe I’m not getting it because I don’t see the numbers/forecasts, but I’ve long accepted that downtown areas in this state will never be what young professionals who want to live in an urban environment desire precisely because if you increase the activity in these downtown cores, unless you have a serious plan in place to curtail crime, it will get out of hand quickly.

I accept that some amount of crime is to be expected. See Kansas City for an example of enough amenities to blot out the small amount of crime and homelessness.

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It’s cost prohibitive to convert them to residential use

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That used be the case. Now with approved PVC flexible piping you can run plumbing into multiple units from a central location. Drainage is a little trickier but can be accomplished.