With construction scheduled to begin next year on luxury apartment complexes, some North Gate business owners are bowing out of the area. They’re moving and hoping their clientele will follow when FirstWorthing development company turns their old business space into new apartments and stores.
University Partners, the student housing division of FirstWorthing, bulldozed Arzi’s Lebanese Cafe, Rocco’s Poboys and McDonald’s in August to make room for new apartments. The development company is turning its sights toward the shopping center adjacent to The Venue apartment complex that houses Chelsea’s, Roly Poly, Baskin Robbins, Saigon and Inga’s Subs and Salads.
FirstWorthing owns the shopping center and has tentative plans to renovate the area for apartments. The company will likely decide on a development schedule next month, said Kim Hardcastle, marketing vice president for Communications 21, a public relations and marketing company that works with FirstWorthing.
Though Chelsea’s Cafe renewed a three-year lease in the shopping center on Aug. 1, Dave Remetter, Chelsea’s owner, said FirstWorthing gave him an offer to move out. Chelsea’s will be moving to the former Colonel’s Club building on Perkins Road on Jan. 1.
Tara Aucoin, owner of Roly Poly, said she is moving her restaurant to a building adjacent to Southgate Towers.
Other North Gate tenants said they have not decided where they will continue their business.
Inga Kim, owner of Inga’s Subs and Salads, is considering a move, but she said there is no way for her to stay in the area because the rent FirstWorthing charges will be much higher than what she currently pays.
“I can’t pay rent and make a profit [in the North Gate area],” Kim said. “I would like to stay in the area … but I’m still looking.”
Bien Le, owner of Saigon, said she is also unsure what she will do with her restaurant.
Kim said she is nostalgic about her present location – the first and only place Inga’s has ever been.
“I’m sad,” said Kim, who began her sandwich shop as a Blimpie’s in 1983. “I’ve been here for 23 years. It’s been a long time.”
Chelsea’s has been in the area for 17 years, but Remetter is ready for the restaurant to step outside of North Gate.
“The end is in sight,” Remetter said. “It’s either leave now or leave in two years.”
Remetter, who bought Chelsea’s from his parents in 1999, said he is worried about his restaurant’s dynamics changing, but he said the move will be good for business because Chelsea’s new location has better amenities to handle the restaurant’s increasing business.
Aucoin said her move to another student-populated area will be advantageous because students make up a majority of her clientele. Remetter said his customer base will change with the different area.
The current Perkins area bars and restaurants attract 25 to 40-year-old crowds, Remetter said, but he wants to be faithful to his current crowd.
“Some people like to come in here because it is a hole in the wall,” Remetter said.
John Cannatella, owner of Coffee Call on College Drive, said Coffee Call’s 2004 move from its original location to a new building across the shopping center also changed the dynamics of the coffee shop that existed in its original spot for 28 years.
Cannatella, whose father opened the coffee shop in 1976, said Coffee Call’s location change was “the best move we’ve ever done,” increasing revenue 25 percent.
Cannatella said Coffee Call’s original location was in a declining shopping center. Coffee Call also had allowed customers to smoke inside the coffee shop, which deterred some clients.
“That’s not the best thing for business,” Cannatella said. “We had a good-sized clientele, but lots of people were going to other coffee shops because they are non-smoking.”
Some of the North Gate area’s loyal customers are reluctant to see the businesses move and the area change into apartments.
“This is one of the rare places where you find non-corporate businesses,” said Mark Huntsman, French graduate student who was dining at Inga’s last week.
Tim Brown, sociology graduate student, also eating at Inga’s, said he feels like Baton Rouge will lose a lot of character when North Gate restaurants move from the area.
“I think it’s sad that they’re tearing down places with character for cookie cutter apartments,” Brown said.