New Baton Rouge affordable housing development going up near LSU; see where, when

Written by Lara Nicholson, The Advocate

May 16, 2024

Officials have begun construction on the third phase of a $28.1 million development to bolster affordable housing in Baton Rouge.

Partners Southeast, the development arm of the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority, announced the start of construction Thursday on Cypress River Lofts, a collection of 19 one- and three-bedroom apartments located on the corner of Duane and Oklahoma streets.

It is the third part of a multiphase, mixed-income development funded in 2002 by the Hope VI federal grant program. The first phase of development consisted of 33 scattered units, while phase two, completed in 2019, included 46 homes and apartments spread across Highland Road.

Construction on the $8.5 million Cypress River Lofts is expected to be completed in October 2024.

The project will coincide with a 30-acre development along Nicholson Drive by Commercial Properties Realty Trust, the for-profit real estate arm of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, as well as the Water Campus near downtown Baton Rouge. It also will be located near a new $400 million LSU arena slated for the university’s campus.

“We recognize that we can be an economic driver to revitalize the South Baton Rouge neighborhoods with our innovative designs and access to capital,” Housing Authority CEO J. Wesley Daniels said in a statement. “We also believe that these developments will continue to attract private investment, as was the case with River South on Highland Road.”

Partners Southeast is developing the Cypress River Lofts with general contractor Milton J. Womack, Inc. and Legette Construction Joint Venture, as well as architectural firm RHH Architects.

Helping finance the project is the Louisiana Housing Corporation’s HOME rental housing program and neighborhood landlord rental program, which was created to assist landlords looking to construct new rental homes and apartments after the 2016 floods. Construction and permanent financing is provided by Home Bank.