It takes a village

In the year and a half since the Southside Civic Association lost a knockdown, dragout fight with the proposed Rouzan development, Tommy Spinosa’s old Ford pasture remains green space, and Southdowns Village, the once-quiet, old school shopping center across from the neighborhood, has exploded with action. First came the crisp black awnings, the uniform signage, the resurfaced lot. Then came the prestige.

A classic Magazine Street pub and grill revived a dormant restaurant space. An elegant wine bar paved over a gritty watering hole. A body-conscious bakery replaced a fast-food chain. The city’s most prominent gallerist moved in, then one of its most renowned photographers followed suit.

“It’s well located, always has been,” says Tom Cook, a real estate appraiser and principal of Cook Moore & Associates. “It’s just that no one took the time to do it the right way before.”

Enter Donnie Jarreau. The real estate developer had been an investor in Dreamland BBQ, the dry-rub rib joint that never stood a chance against TJ Ribs. Still, he had faith in the location—now home to The Bulldog—and in 2007 purchased the shopping center from Steve Carville for $3.5 million. Then came another $1.3 million in improvements; everything from landscaping to wrought-iron fencing, added parking, awnings and security cameras.

With a new, upscale visual palette in place, Jarreau could focus on attracting the right mix of complementary dining, shopping and lifestyle options. Along with the placement of the anchor tenants—in Southdowns’ case, The Bulldog and Enoteca Marcello’s Wine Bar—allowing patrons to multitask while orbiting a single parking lot is one of the keys to success. According to Michael Beyard, the urban planner and economist whose Shopping Center Development Handbook is a 400-page resource for developers, with case studies on 15 successful shopping destinations. Southdowns Village looks like it could make number 16. The shiny chic look of blon salon could be in Soho.

In his 13 years at the Perkins Road location, Vinyasa yoga instructor and Hot Locks Salon owner L.A. Landry has seen it all. He remembers the days when the center was less traveled, when he paid for his own stucco storefront.

“People are commenting on the new look of the shopping center,” Landry says. “It’s too early to say how much potential is here, but it’s certainly something.”

Two years ago Grace Smith moved in next to Hot Locks with Bella Bridesmaid, the kind of niche business that never needed much foot traffic. But thanks to the recent resurgence, she’s getting plenty. “It’s booming,” Smith says. “When 5 p.m. hits, it’s packed. My employee just got here, and she couldn’t find a space. She had to park in the back.”

For more than a decade, architect Dwayne Carruth relied on walk-in business for The Front Door, his interiors and hardware design showroom on Main Street downtown. After Hurricane Gustav hit, gallerist Ann Connelly recruited Carruth and photographer Jeannie Frey Rhodes to move their businesses near each other in Southdowns Village. “This way it becomes an attraction, a destination, rather than us being scattered all over,” Carruth says. “This way we can play off each other.”

And play they do, hosting events together and cross-promoting each other. Connelly rotates some of her large, vibrant gallery pieces on Carruth’s walls, where they hang front and center at the entrance of The Front Door.

“I had a showing with OLOL Children’s Hospital at Ann Connelly and the atmosphere was buzzing,” says Rhodes, a former city planner whose photography studio forms one slice of the development’s arts-and design-heavy northwest corner. “There were lots of patrons who not only came to the show, but walked across the parking lot to the new Marcello’s wine bar. There was a lot of positive energy.”

Donnie Jarreau Companies agent Chad Ortte says it was Connelly, inspired by Highland Park Village in Dallas, who worked with designer Amy Coe and retired LSU landscape architect professor Jon Emerson to drive many of the creative ideas during redevelopment.

“At the time we had some tenants whose leases were up, and the opportunity was there to take things in a different direction,” Ortte says. “Ann committed ideas, and as far as a vision and direction for who should be here, a lot of that came from her.”

Connelly says the strategy was simple: friends linking their cultural economies together to become a more intrinsic part of the community. “I think we will be seeing more and more planned or clustered creative businesses,” Connelly says. “Places where everyone is working hard to create a good and lasting impression.”

First impressions are good. First impressions with food are better.

After Dreux’s Grill closed, Ortte cold-called several local restaurants and asked them to open another location in the space. No one bit until The Bulldog. With its cozy patio and endless taps, the longtime New Orleans pub was an instant hit in Southdowns.

“It’s a neighborhood center, so you want the goods and services to complement each other,” Ortte says. “You’ve got Spectrum (Fitness Club), a Smoothie King and now Truly Free Bakery, so you can work out then eat something healthy. Having a wine bar across from an art gallery just works.”

In April, Marcello’s Wine Market owner Gene Todaro opened Enoteca Marcello’s Wine Bar, with vino by the bottle or glass and a full dinner menu, across from Ann Connelly Fine Art. Todaro’s father owns Lafayette’s famed Italian eatery, Marcello’s Wine Market Café, and just weeks after opening, the authentic Sicilian cuisine at Enoteca was as talked about as the wine selection.

“Southdowns Village has a strong neighborhood surrounding it, and it’s in the middle of town, so it can’t go wrong,” Cook says. “It’s the same with the area at Acadian and Perkins and the Perkins overpass. The whole corridor is going to be a good place. Success breeds success.”

And with hot sweets rolling out every morning from the center’s original anchor, Mary Lee Donuts, the renaissance will be glazed.