The North Gate business community is united in bringing new business opportunities to the area, but some business owners are skeptical of the effects high-end apartment communities will have on businesses already established in the area.
FirstWorthing, a Dallas-based development company that owns The Venue apartment complex on State Street, is building new complexes and businesses on State and Chimes Streets and Highland Road, but many students and business owners are worried the area may lose its eclectic appeal.
The area has become a traditional place for students, professors and members of the Baton Rouge community to gather. North Gate also has a close-knit community of business owners, who make up the North Gate Merchants Association, to act as a voice for the community’s needs.
Some association members are being bought out by FirstWorthing to make room for more luxury apartments. The company bought Arzi’s Lebanese Cafe, Rocco’s Poboys – both former members of the association – and McDonald’s property and razed the buildings in August to prepare for new apartments and retail. The company also owns the shopping center on State Street adjacent to The Venue including Inga’s Salads and Subs, Saigon, Baskin-Robbins, Chelsea’s Cafe and Roly Poly and plans to renovate that area at an undetermined time.
FirstWorthing did not renew many of the companies’ contracts, said Dave Remmetter, Chelsea’s Cafe owner. Remmetter, who bought Chelsea’s from his parents in 1999, said Chelsea’s was the last business in the shopping center that was able to renew a lease from FirstWorthing. His three-year lease began on Aug. 1.
“I don’t like the fact that these people from Texas are changing the area,” Remmetter said. “I have a bad taste in my mouth because they won’t offer us a spot in the new retail. They don’t really care about what we think about the area, and that’s how it’s going to be.”
Inga Kim, Inga’s owner, said she wants to know whether the new businesses will compete with older businesses.
“It depends on the type of businesses that come to the area,” said Kim, whose sandwich shop in the shopping center next to The Venue began as a Blimpie’s in 1983.
  Mary Giardina, junior taking independent study classes, said she does not like The Venue’s location in relation to the area near Chimes Street.
“It doesn’t go with the atmosphere of the area, its bohemian side,” said Giardina, who frequents Inga’s.
Adam Rowland, University alumni who eats at Chelsea’s, said he thinks the association’s changes have been a “good thing.”
“It’s not as dangerous as it used to be,” Rowland said.
The North Gate area has “cleaned up,” but its uniqueness is fading, said Kara Bourg, University alumna who has worked as a waitress at Chelsea’s for four years.
“It’s nice, new and clean, which most people want to see; but at the same time, it’s sacrificing what it was,” Bourg said.
Remmetter said the North Gate area draws a devoted following from all areas of Baton Rouge and the University.
“You can walk in [Chelsea’s] and see skateboarders and professors getting along,” Remmetter said. “That’s going to be missed. [New developments] are going to kill that style. A strip mall is such an unoriginal idea.”
Remmetter said he is considering moving his restaurant to a site on Perkins Road.
“It’s still not a done deal and may not work out, but if I did move, I would stay near campus,” Remmetter said.
But Jimmy Wetherford, Louie’s Cafe owner, said he sees these expansion efforts as a positive step forward for the area, bringing younger customers, who live in the apartments, to the area.
“You can hear the bell tower ring from here,” Wetherford said of the North Gate area’s close proximity to campus. “[New apartments are] bringing new students to the neighborhood – new construction and new business. Companies are recognizing this.”
Kim said she wants to meet with developers from FirstWorthing to give them the perspective of a long-time business owner, but she and the other members of the merchants association have not had much progress so far.
“The merchants work here every day,” Kim said. “We know this area more than the developers do.”
Though Kim accepts the possibility of new business as a step forward for the older area, she said she is wary of new businesses that may close after a short amount of time, such as the Gap on Highland Road that closed last year. The store space is still vacant.
“Everyone wants the area to grow more,” Kim said. “It has a long history at LSU … I’d really like some positive changes. We don’t want a repeat of the Gap.”
Contact Leslie Ziober at [email protected]