Here’s the latest on the River Center redevelopment project

Hunden Partners, the city-parish’s adviser on the River Center expansion and headquarters hotel project, is coordinating with Sasaki, the design firm leading Plan Baton Rouge III, to align both initiatives.

Downtown Development District Executive Director Whitney Hoffman Sayal provided an update from the River Center oversight committee during Tuesday’s DDD Commission meeting, outlining the River Center project’s next steps.

The proposed expansion includes a 350-room headquarters hotel and a 40,000-square-foot flex hall and concert venue with seating for 3,500.

Other planned improvements include:

• A 30,000-square-foot ballroom and meeting rooms
• Renovations to the existing River Center ballroom and interior spaces
• A reimagined outdoor public plaza

“The next steps involve further defining the project, breaking that down into more detail, identifying a funding strategy and then an implementation approach,” Sayal says.

The process remains in phase one of a projected 24-month, two-phase timeline that will conclude with an agreement with a developer. Phase one covers project definition and implementation planning. Phase two will involve a request for qualifications, review of submissions, a request for proposals, and negotiation of final terms leading to a development agreement.

Sayal notes that Hunden Partners is evaluating potential financing strategies, which will shape how the city approaches the market to secure a development partner.

“All of that will be more refined over the short list of the RFQ,” she says. “They would have an RFQ short list for the developers that are interested and respond, then they would have an RFP for more competitive proposals. Then they would negotiate the final terms and define the agreement.”

This story was originally published by Daily Report on Oct. 14. To keep up with Baton Rouge business news, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.