Written by Stephanie Riegel for the Baton Rouge Business Report | October 10, 2017
Several tenants have signed—and several others are negotiating—leases at Ichiban Square, a new retail center currently under construction at the intersection of Essen Lane and Perkins Road.
Tenants include: Agave Blue Tequila and Taco Bar; Smoothie King; Hot Works, a yoga studio; and Blissful, a high-end nail salon.
Agave Blue, a locally-owned Mexican restaurant, will be opening its second location in the strip center. Smoothie King is relocating from its current location nearly the Essen-Perkins intersection to a bigger, drive-through space at Ichiban Square.
Several other leases—with a restaurant chain and a workout concept group—are currently in the works, says Carmen Austin, a leasing agent with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate.
The three-building retail center is adjacent to Ichiban Restaurant and behind an existing retail center that fronts on Essen Lane. Chris Shaheen is developing the property and expects construction on the exterior of the buildings to be completed later this month.
The tenants will do their own build-outs and should be ready to move in by the end of the year, he says.
“It’s going to be a great development because you’ll have a thru parking lot that runs between Ichiban Restaurant and Perkins Road and that will generate traffic for the shopping center,” he says. “That whole area is a great with the hospital and the malls and Perkins Rowe right down the road. You’re kind of in the middle of everything.”
Carmen R. Austin, MBA, CCIM has been a practicing commercial real estate broker since 2001. She is a graduate of the Louisiana State University (LSU) E.J Ourso College of Business and the LSU Flores Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Program with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Finance. Her experience includes past employment as Regional Director of Leasing at Commercial Properties Realty Trust, the for-profit arm of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Carmen is a graduate of the Jay W. Levine Leadership Development Academy, Class of 2011, and served as the 2010 President of the Louisiana CCIM Chapter. She currently serves on the National CCIM Institute Board of Directors and the CCIM Institute Education Foundation Board of Directors.
Carmen’s affiliations include Louisiana REALTORS, Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors Commercial Investment Division, International Council of Shopping Centers, Commercial Real Estate Women,Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute, National Association of REALTORS, and Urban Land Institute. She is also an active volunteer on the Board of Directors for the Baton Rouge Gallery, LSU MBA Alumni Association, Junior Achievement of Baton Rouge, and the Junior League of Baton Rouge.
Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate is a member of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce (BRAC); the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce; the Baton Rouge Better Business Bureau; the Louisiana Commercial Data Base (LACDB); and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Several agents, on an individual basis, are members of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR), the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM); the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR); and the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS® Commercial Investment Division (CID).
