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Mike Wampold’s II City Plaza is the largest nongovernmental project to be built in Baton Rouge since the 1980s, but it’s smaller than its new neighbor, the 12-story, 335,000-square-foot city-parish courthouse whose construction is responsible for pens and loose change occasionally rattling on 225 desks.

II City Plaza is a sleek, 14-story structure with 270,000 square feet. The construction crew is treading lightly to avoid incidental damage to delicate stained-glass windows at nearby St. James Episcopal Church. “We were a bit nervous about having the large construction crane swinging out over our buildings,” Pastor Mark Holland admits.

City Plaza representatives assuaged the issue by having crews drill holes for the office building’s concrete pilings rather than simply pounding them into the ground. They also presented Holland with a certificate of insurance, and covered additional security expenses for the school’s carpool line that has migrated to Fourth Street because of the construction.