Demolition of the more than 345,000-square-foot Coca-Cola bottling plant at Airline Highway and Interstate 12 is well underway, as is evident to anyone who has recently driven past the nearly leveled 28-acre site. Crews should have the last of the rubble hauled away sometime in December, says T.D. Farrell Construction project manager Shon Huettl, and Costco is aiming to have its new warehouse store open on the site sometime in April. T.D. Farrell also built the New Orleans Costco, Louisiana’s first location, which opened on Sept. 21. Huettl says that in addition to the 150,000-square-foot retail warehouse, the Baton Rouge Costco project includes a Costco gas station, the re-alignment of Dawnadele Ave. and some reworking of the intersection of Airline and Dawnadele. Costco closed on the property on Aug. 29 after the Metro Council approved a TIF in May that will rebate $7.8 million in sales taxes to Costco. —Rachel Alexander
Costco eyes opening date in April
