New Activity in Commerce Point Subdivision

Bobby Smith with NAI/Latter & Blum Commercial Real Estate recently sold two lots in Commerce Point, the industrial use subdivision he’s developing off La. 30, near the Ciba Geigy Access Road, in Ascension Parish. That’s encouraging news for Smith, who likes to say that the financial crisis started on Aug. 16, 2008—the day parish officials approved the subdivision. “After that, everything stopped,” says Smith, who at one point was reduced to listing the lots for around $4 per square foot because sales were so slow. The recent sales in the development indicate that market conditions have improved. Each of the deals worked out to about $5.52 per square foot. Smith sold Bayou Safety and TWE Engineering Group each a 38,060-square-foot lot; each lot sold for $210,00. Both lots measure 110-by-350-feet and will be improved with industrial use buildings. Bayou Safety is planning a 7,000-square-foot, air-conditioned metal building in which to conduct industrial safety training, while TWE will build an office warehouse on its site. “A couple of years makes a big difference. We have closed on six lots this year and only have three lots left to sell,” Smith says.