Thursday, March 29, 2007
Mike Polito
President, MAPP Construction
For nearly six months, MAPP Construction has operated out of plush, modern offices on Third Street, a welcome change from congested Bluebonnet. MAPP President Mike Polito clues 225 in on why the move was crucial and what exactly a presidential candidate was doing contacting his office.
Why move downtown?
Personally I was just tired of the old suburban office, getting in a car and driving everywhere. From a corporate standpoint, it gives employees an opportunity to experience something different. And most importantly, long-term, I think it will help attract quality young people to the company.
What’s the biggest daily change, walking to lunch?
Yeah, that’s about the biggest change for me. Café Asia is two doors down. Most of the folks I need to meet with are downtown anyway.
I understand Mitt Romney’s presidential exploratory committee called you.
I think his people were trying just to get a foothold in Louisiana and asked if I would get involved.
Will you?
I haven’t made any decisions yet.
How involved have you been politically?
On the periphery. My goal is just to support smart, proactive, progressive candidates.
What local MAPP project are you most excited about right now?
… At the end of the year we’ll finish Mike Wampold’s Crescent Condos project on Stanford. That’s one of the higher-quality condominium projects you’ll ever see in Baton Rouge. So we’re excited about wrapping that one up.
How do you see rising construction costs affecting Baton Rouge development this year?
Fortunately Baton Rouge is still a hot market, and there are the GO Zone incentives to offset things economically. But we are seeing some marginal deals being killed, but that’s probably a good thing. That’s what should happen because the economics have to work.
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