You have probably noticed it, if you’re just driving along Harding Blvd. in North Baton Rouge.
“Howell Place has always been about, from day one, bringing the services to people versus the people having to go to the services,” said Richard Preis, the developer of the property.
It is a more than 200-acre piece of property. Preis said he took notice of the opportunity here more than a decade ago.
“North Baton Rouge has some what been a secret for a long time,” said Preis.
From hotels to restaurants to even health centers, like The Y, now with the Economic Opportunity Zone in place, and also a new Senate Bill, which establishes boundaries for a development district, more business owners, like Ronald Smith, can build here.
“I’m a Southern University graduate. I love the community feel that we have here,” said Smith. “Residents love being in North Baton Rouge. Now, we just need to give them some opportunities to not have to leave the area they love to get the services they need.”
North Baton Rouge Advocate Gary Chambers said they need services like an emergency room.
“Gratefully, Champion Medical Center and Cambridge Holdings, who owns this building, are ready to rock-n-roll and invest and bring an ER to North Baton Rouge. We just have to work out the details between the city or the state to figure out how do we make sure this is sustainable,” explained Smith.
Chambers teamed up Councilwoman Chauna Banks-Daniel to get the project started, since the Baton Rouge General closed in Mid-City last year.
“The number one thing is to try to get this ER open. Once we move from that phase, we can figure out how we can build Howell Place out and how do we phase North Baton Rouge into zones,” said Chambers. “I think we can make North Baton Rouge as good, if not better, than South Baton Rouge. It just takes people who will get down and do the work.”
The proposed ER would be an extension of Champion Medical Center, that is in Howell Place.