Surprise! Hotel Boom Not Over...

After years of hotel construction in Lafayette, get ready for another new property. The Best Western brand is returning to Pinhook Rd., just across the street from what used to be the Best Western Hotel Acadiana (now a Crowne Plaza). A building permit has been issued for the Best Western Oil Center Suites on Rue Fernand, which is just behind Chili's.

I've heard that Oil Center hotels frequently stay fully booked with business travelers during the week. I guess that would explain why so many hotels have recently opened in the Pinhook / Kaliste Saloom area (Staybridge Suites, Wingate Inn, Residence Inn, Holiday Inn Express). The hotel is permitted at $1.8 million.

New Louisiana Mall on Hold

If you've driven down I-12 through St. Tammany Parish in the past year or so, you must have noticed the commercial construction boom along the corridor. As the Northshore population exploded after Hurricane Katrina, so did commercial development. Now it seems one project that hoped to cash in on new Northshore neighbors is temporarily on ice.

New Orleans TV station WDSU reports Nord du Lac, a major lifestyle retail center which was going to have about 100 stores, will not open in March as planned. The report says the buildings that have been completed are simply being mummified in Tyvek - only to be unwrapped when the economy begins to recover. There are also concerns about the fate of a very similar project (called Summit Fremeaux) in Slidell, where construction is in more preliminary stages.

Even though I do believe the post-Katrina Northshore market was over-hyped, I think the slowdown on these two projects can be mostly attributed to skittish national retailers. Both projects are coming from respectable national retail developers. But right now, no one wants to expand.

The only similar property that was even proposed in Lafayette, was the development of the huge chunk of land at the Ambassador Caffery / Kaliste Saloom intersection. River Ranch developer Robert Daigle, who was also trying to create an outdoor mall at that site tells me all plans are on hold until the national retailers decide they want to once again grow.

Furniture Store, New Restaurant Coming to River Ranch

The huge building to the right of Fresh Market in River Ranch will soon have a tenant. Developer Robert Daigle tells me Paul Michael Furniture hopes to open in the space September 15. Daigle says the high-end furniture retailer was looking for a location in South Louisiana, and chose Lafayette over Baton Rouge and other cities.

The large space on Kaliste Saloom Rd. at the front of the development has been empty since it has been built. Daigle says he was approached by a number of retailers who asked to divide up the building, but he wanted to lease it as a whole slot.

Also, Bella Figura's replacement will open in about four weeks in the City Club building at River Ranch's main square. City Club Bar and Grill will be a members-only restaurant with a Pat Mould-crafted menu. Daigle says the menu and feel of the restaurant will be much like the first City Club restaurant that opened in that space when the entire facility first opened a few years ago.

More Things to Buy in Maurice

Maurice residents will soon get a new place to buy pretty much anything. Dollar General is building a new store on Hwy. 167 just south of Hwy. 92. The site is next door to Mr. Keet's seafood restaurant with a Family Dollar two doors down.

Recent growth has brought new suburban-style residential development to the Maurice / Northern Vermilion Parish area, and these folks need somewhere to shop.

New CC's: Ambassador at Congress

After closing the chain's store on Ambassador Caffery Pkwy. near Robley Dr. just last month, CC's Community Coffee House is set to break ground on a new store just down the road. Ground breaking is scheduled for this week on a new stand-alone store on Ambassador at W. Congress St.

The drive-thru store will face Ambassador, and will be located next to the Valero gas station, in front of Albertson's. "Weather permitting; we should be open January/February timeframe," says Sean Marlow, the company's real estate and store operations manager. CC's nearest competitor will be the Starbucks in front of Wal-Mart down Ambassador. The new store will be the Baton Rouge-based chain's eighth location in Lafayette.

UPDATE: Warehouse District Lofts

Lafayette is not known as a town to embrace modern architecture. I believe we're the heart of the French Country belt (roughly Houston to Gulfport), where almost everything looks like it has been magically transported from Provence (and has a garage that faces the street). We're about to get our first full-on taste of industrial residential design.

The first phase of the Warehouse District Lofts on South College Rd. near West Bayou Pkwy. is now framed up, and you can instantly recognize the angular lines from down the road. Signs on the units show a few are sold, with some still available. A similar project in Baton Rouge has proven successful, so it will be interesting to see if this complex whets the appetite of Lafayette condo buyers.

Progress at Southwest Volkswagen

Work continues at Acadiana's first Volkswagen dealership in two decades. Southwest Volkswagen is under construction on Johnston Street, just past Duhon Rd. (across from Giles). The dealership is owned by the same folks who own Southpoint Volkswagen in Baton Rouge.

If you're thinking this may be the worst time ever to open a new car dealership, you may be right. Many experts are assuming that Americans simply will not buy as many cars as we did just a few years ago. But, there are indicators that show Lafayette should be able to support this dealership. First off, we're doing better than almost every other part of the country. People are still buying cars here. Also, this New York Times story says European brands, like VW, are gaining market share as companies like GM and Chrysler meltdown.