Commercial Properties Realty Trust Breaks Ground on 28-Unit Apartment Property in Downtown Baton Rouge

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Work started on Monday, Sept. 15, on the Onyx Residences, the newest apartment complex in downtown Baton Rouge.

Representatives from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Commercial Properties Realty Trust, The Baton Rouge Metro Council, Dontown Development District and the Mayor’s Office were present at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The project calls for the redevelopment of the old Onyx Building, which opened in the 1950s at the corner of Third and Convention Streets. Rider’s Jewelry called the property home until the late-’70s. Afterwards it sat vacant for more than 30 years. City Year, a nonprofit organization, occupied the building in the last decade, but it also moved out, in 2010.

The new Onyx Residences will be a five-story building, with 28 one- and two-bedroom apartments above 5,600 square feet of commercial space.  The units will range between 600 and 1,100 square feet and will each have its own balcony or terrace, overlooking Third Street, Convention Street or the Shaw Center for the Arts, as well as numerous other features. Parking will be available in the state parking garage, located just across the street.

“We thank all the people who have come together to create a common gathering place for everyone in the parish,” John G. Davies, CEO and president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, said in a statement. “Downtown has more than a dozen new restaurants, more Class-A office space, a new Town Square, hotels, the Shaw Center for the Arts and its Manship Theatre. With this development, more people will be able to live downtown, which is vital to continuing the area’s transformation.”

Commercial Properties Realty Trust is the project’s developer. It will invest more than $6 million to redevelop the property. The Onyx Residences are expected to open in the fall of 2015.

Photo credits: Onyx Residences