The University has agreed to a land swap deal with non-profit group New Schools for Baton Rouge. The deal would see the University acquire land in the North Gate area in exchange for about 12 acres in Innovation Park.

Dan Layzell, LSU executive vice president of finance and administration and CFO, said the University was approached earlier this year by New Schools for Baton Rouge about leasing the property in the Gardere area. The locally-based group was launched in 2012 to bring excellent education to the city of Baton Rouge. They are currently involved with 13 schools in the Baton Rouge area, and are looking to build more. Layzell said the University was approached because New Schools was looking for land in that specific geographic area.

“We had various discussions and ultimately decided that we didn’t want to play landlord in this instance,” Layzell said. “But, we would be willing to sell or swap the land.”

The University worked with New Schools to identify several pieces of property the University was interested in, and eventually settled on a piece of property located between W. State and W. Chimes Streets. The land is currently occupied by a Pay to Park parking lot and used to be host to a McDonald’s. A portion of the property is fenced off from the public.

“The one between State and Chimes met our needs,” Layzell said. There are no solid plans for the land at this time, though student parking is an option. 

Layzell also said the land swap was the more advantageous option for the University.

“If we sold it outright, because of the way in which we acquired the Innovation Park property in the first place, we would have to turn the proceeds over to the State,” he said. “We wouldn’t be able to retain the proceeds for use here on campus.”