Population shift

Multi-residential construction to accommodate migration

By Martin Schwartz

Louisiana has a long road of recovery ahead of it in the wake of two devastating hurricanes in 2005, but all the news for the state is not necessarily bad.

LSU economist and professor emeritus of economics Loren Scott said the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be far-reaching and will result in a population shift in the southern part of the state, with Baton Rouge becoming the largest metropolitan area in Louisiana this year.

This will be met by sharp increases in residential and multi-residential construction.

Scott, with James Richardson, economics professor and director of the Public Administration Institute at LSU's E. J. Ourso College of Business, composes the annual Louisiana Economic Outlook report, which forecasts economic conditions for the state's major metro areas. Though originally scheduled for release in September, the impact of the two hurricanes made the original projections "trash can fodder," Scott said.

"The pre-hurricane forecast does have some value to our work," Scott said. "It serves as a baseline from which we can measure the impact of the hurricanes on the state economy."

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The effects of the hurricanes reach far beyond the state's boundaries. According to the September Economic and Housing Market Outlook released by Freddie Mac, the hurricanes' effects on the national economy have been "quite immediate through lost output from the Gulf region, decline in wage income from workers who have lost their jobs, spike in energy costs and disruption to import-export trade flows through New Orleans and other nearby ports."

The good news is that housing starts were up 200,000 to 7.2 million and home sales were projected to be up to an annual rate of 7.23 million in quarter three and 7.11 million in quarter four to 7.28 and 7.16 million respectively, due in part to families displaced by Katrina.

Though mortgage interest rates are expected to decline, reconstruction in the southern part of the state will likely force a rise in the price of construction materials, particularly plywood and roofing tiles, the Freddie Mac report states. A 5 to 10 percent increase in materials cost could add two to three percent in the cost of a new home in the short term.

Still, multi-residential construction continues to be a driving force in the residential market . Following are a few of the larger projects under way, all of which were under construction or planned before the hurricanes made landfall.

Residential College One Apartments, LSU. Buquet & LeBlanc of Baton Rouge has begun construction on the $20.4 million Residential College One Apartments at LSU. The project started in October and is scheduled for a Summer 2007 completion.

The apartments are being constructed in a single phase and will be used as dormitories for LSU students.

The early stages of the construction include the placement of 427 drill shafts.

"They're having to be installed by the slurry method," said Al Pickett, vice president. "The ground is very unstable and that's why we've had to use that method."

The project is being constructed on the site of an old dormitory that was demolished prior to Buquet & LeBlanc's project.

"That is the location of the old Hodge's Hall, which they tore down," Pickett said. The building and land had been cleared before the contractors arrived on site, he said.

The 121,000-sq.-ft. building will have four floors and will help fill some of the university's needs for new housing.

Dorm construction, Southern University. Other dorm construction is underway at Southern University as Percy J. Matherne Contractor of Baton Rouge completes the third dorm in a series of six in this $12.4 million project. Matherne joined the project on the second dorm building in October 2004.

The three-story dorm has a structural steel frame with block walls on the exterior and brick and steel stud on the interior. The floors are concrete poured.

Project manager Bobby Sheets said the building is being constructed in an open field so only minimal land clearing was required. About 25 subcontractors are assisting on the project with the majority being from Baton Rouge.

The dorms are addressing a dire need for housing on the Southern University campus, Sheets said.

"I think the housing has been inadequate for so long, this is where the need is," he said.

The Village at Westlake Apartments, Shreveport. Construction began in February on The Village at Westlake Apartments in Shreveport, a $12 million project being built by Shreve Land Construction.

Paul Webb, project manager, said plans call for 13 two-story apartment buildings with detached carports, as well as a clubhouse. Each apartment building will house from 14 to 16 units for a total of 237,000 sq. ft. of living space. The buildings are all wood construction with post tension foundations.

"They're all totally framed up and we've turned over the clubhouse and the first two buildings," Webb said.

The apartments are located on the west side of Shreveport Regional Airport and are owned by The Village at Westlake Ltd. This is the sixth project Shreve Land Construction has worked on for these owners, Webb said. "We pride ourselves on being a repeat builder," he said.

The project is scheduled for completion in March.

"In fact, we'll be through a month before then," Webb said. "There was little rain this past summer and rain greatly impacts our schedule. Because of the drought and the subs that we've had, everything has been a little easier for us."