All-new Community Honda coming to Lafayette, Louisiana
Stirling Properties brokered sale of 10-acres for new facility.
Community Honda recently announced plans for an all-new state-of-the-art facility in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The 10-acre future home of Community Honda is located along Highway 90 near the airport. It will include a 50,000-square-foot facility with over 30 service bays, a children’s play area, a café, and many more amenities.
“After three years in Lafayette, we are excited to expand our presence to better serve the community,” said Roger Elswick, Community Honda owner.
Seth Citron, Stirling Properties senior advisor, brokered the transaction and worked with Community Honda to secure the new location. “This was a great project to work on, and I’m excited for Roger and Kim Elswick’s entire Community team. This will be a remarkable new development that will service their loyal employees and customers for the next generation of Honda products in and around the Acadiana area. I’m eager to see this property returned to commerce and provide an enhanced economic boost for the market,” said Citron.
With construction set to begin in 2022, the new facility is expected to open in 2023 and will be the first in Louisiana to use Honda’s newest designs.
For leasing information in southwest Louisiana, contact Seth Citron at scitron@stirlingprop.com / 337-572-0273.
Stirling Properties Adds Two Advisors to Commercial Real Estate Team
Rankin Bihm recently joined the Stirling Properties team as an Advisor, working dually from the company’s Lafayette and Lake Charles offices. He is primarily focused on the sales and leasing of retail properties, with representation of both tenants and landlords. His specific geographical expertise is on the Southwest Louisiana market area.
Prior to joining Stirling Properties, Bihm served as a Multimedia Consultant, where he advised business clients on digital marketing and promotional strategies. He has a strong understanding of market research and analyzing competitor data, which translates to the real estate market, where he helps his clients to effectively locate and market properties. He also has extensive experience in the hospitality and service industry, where he honed superior customer service and relationship-building skills.
Bihm is a graduate of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and was a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. He is currently enrolled in the University of Louisiana-Lafayette MBA program.
Rankin is a volunteer with St. Joseph Parish Vacation Bible School and Keep Lafayette Clean. He is an avid reader and enjoys listening to podcasts—and all things sports.
Blaise Brown also joins the Stirling Properties’ commercial real estate team as an Advisor, working from the company’s New Orleans office. With a geographic focus on New Orleans East and St. Bernard Parish, he specializes in the sales and leasing of retail and industrial properties and raw land.
Brown is a member of the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR), the Commercial Investment Division of NOMAR (CID), International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and Retail Brokers Network (RBN).
Born and raised in NOLA, Blaise is a graduate of St. Augustine High School and currently resides in New Orleans East. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Justice and Peace Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he played football and was named the Team Captain his Senior year.
While in Washington, Blaise served as a Sursum Corda educational tutor, helping to implicate new techniques of reading for children in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods. He helped to create opportunities and practices of learning between tutors and tutees while acting as a mediator between Georgetown students and Sursum Corda children.
Team Stirling Properties Spreads Holiday Cheer!
In the spirit of the Holiday Season, Stirling Properties participated in the Volunteers of America Christmas Wish “Angel” Project. For the 6th consecutive year, our company donated Christmas gifts, food baskets and other essential items to local families in need across our Gulf South region.
The annual Christmas Wish Project helps bring joy and holiday cheer to families and individuals who might not have a Christmas this year. Through Volunteers of America, participating families submit “wish list” gift items for each individual. The wishes are noted on angels and hung on the company Christmas tree where Stirling Properties and employees can select and grant them. This year, we were able to fulfill every single wish! In all, 18 families and more than 46 children, adults and seniors received Christmas gifts. Additionally, 10 families on the Northshore received food baskets with tasty treats and supplies for the holiday season.
Stirling Properties’ Stewardship Committee organized the company-wide event by partnering with Volunteers of America in Greater New Orleans, Greater Baton Rouge and the Southeast to serve the New Orleans Northshore and Southshore, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Mobile and Shreveport communities.
In addition to donating to the Christmas Wish Project, Stirling Properties hosted its third annual Northpark Christmas Bazaar, Bake Sale & Raffle on Friday, November 17th. Local vendors, as well as employees of the Northpark office complex sold crafts, jewelry, ornaments, artwork, beauty products and many other great gift items.
The Christmas Bazaar raised $2,500, which was also donated in full to Volunteers of America to assist more families in our area with emergency holiday needs.
The Holiday Season is a time for gratitude, generosity and giving back to our region. Stirling Properties is committed to supporting the communities where we live and work, and we will continue to support local nonprofits, community groups and charitable organizations throughout the year and beyond.
Thank you to all of the vendors, donors and shoppers who made this project a huge success. On behalf or Stirling Properties, we wish you and yours a joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!
For more information about Stirling’s Stewardship Committee, please visit stirlingprop.com/about/community-involvement or contact us by email at stewardship@stirlingprop.com.
Stirling Properties Welcomes 1st El Pollo Loco to Louisiana Market
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company is pleased to welcome Louisiana’s 1st El Pollo Loco restaurant to Lafayette.
The new El Pollo Loco will be located at 3808 Johnston Street on the corner of Westchester Drive. It will occupy 3,000 square feet of restaurant space, including a drive-thru. Construction on the building is expected to commence in early September, with an anticipated opening in the late spring of 2018.
El Pollo Loco, which is Spanish for “The Crazy Chicken,” features authentically prepared flame-grilled, citrus-marinated chicken, burritos, salads, soups, tacos, and quesadillas.
“We’re dedicated to serving healthy, fresh ‘pollo’ (chicken) hot off our open-flame grills from the skilled hands of our Grill Masters,” said Jason Trotter, El Pollo Loco franchise owner. “Our goal is to serve perfect ‘pollo’ all the time! We are excited to open our first El Pollo Loco restaurant in Louisiana—and we look forward to bringing our authentic Mexican grill to the residents of Lafayette!”
Rhonda Sharkawy and Lauren Ryan, leasing executives with Stirling Properties are the exclusive commercial brokers for El Pollo Loco in the state of Louisiana and are working to identify additional restaurant locations for the franchise. Ryan Pecot, leasing executive with Stirling Properties also represented the sellers in this transaction.
El Pollo Loco is publically traded and has more than 470 company-owned and franchised restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. El Pollo Loco is expanding its presence in key markets through a combination of company and existing and new franchisee development.
Stirling Properties Awarded Management and Leasing Contract of Ambassador Plaza
Stirling Properties commercial real estate company has been awarded the management and leasing contract for Ambassador Plaza in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Ambassador Plaza, shadow-anchored by Albertsons, is a 29,405-square-foot retail center located at the corner of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and West Congress Street. It is 92% leased and has a great mix of retail and restaurant options. Tenants include Fruiti Smoothie, Little Caesars, Lotus Garden, Luxurious Nails, Omega Dentistry, Planet Beach, Saigon Noodles, Style America, Subway, The Jambalaya Shoppe, WellCare, and Wingstop.
The retail center was recently acquired by a local ownership group that has contracted with Stirling Properties for asset management services.
“Stirling Properties is excited to add Ambassador Plaza to our growing commercial portfolio. We have been active in the Lafayette market for quite some time and have a great management and leasing team as well as support staff on the ground. We look forward to working with the new ownership group to create the best return on investment for their asset,” said Donna Taylor, Sr. Vice President of Asset Management & New Business with Stirling Properties.
Stirling Properties manages nearly 18 million square feet of commercial property, with 120 million square feet of property and land for sale or lease. Other Stirling Properties management and development projects in Lafayette include Ambassador Town Center, Stirling Lafayette, River Marketplace, and the 1819 Pinhook Office Building, just to name a few.
For asset management information, contact Donna Taylor at (985) 246-3758 or dtaylor@stirlingprop.com.
Ambassador Town Center 100% Leased!
Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. welcome four new tenants to Ambassador Town Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. Developers are pleased to announce the center is now 100% leased!
5 Star Nutrition has leased 1,759 square feet of space, with an anticipated opening in November. This marks the company’s 2nd location in south Louisiana, and 5th location for the state.
Orangetheory Fitness will occupy 3,300 square feet and is expected to open in December. This will be the 4th Louisiana location for the company.
Sprint will occupy 1,286 square feet and anticipates opening later this year.
Newly leased I Love Juice Bar is celebrating its 1st Louisiana location. It will occupy 1,250 square feet and also plans to open later this year.
Rounding out the tenants, previously announced Just 4 Him Men’s Haircut Lounge celebrated its grand opening last week, and Half Shell Oyster House is still on track to open next month. They join 30 other retailers and restaurants that call the shopping center home, including anchor tenants Costco Wholesale and Dick’s Sporting Goods/Field & Stream. Last month, developers also installed a public walking/jogging trail at the site for community use.
“The growth of Ambassador Town Center since its opening six months ago is impressive,” stated Michael Lebovitz, executive vice president, development and administration, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. “We’re thrilled to add additional national names like Orangetheory Fitness – one of the fastest growing fitness franchises in the country – to our line-up and continue to offer the Lafayette community a vibrant and dynamic lifestyle destination.
“We are extremely proud of the success at Ambassador Town Center,” said Townsend Underhill, Senior Vice President of Development for Stirling Properties. “Getting a retail center of this size 100% leased within 6 months of its grand opening is a huge accomplishment in any community. The progress of this center truly represents the strength of the Lafayette market, especially during this challenging economic time.”
Ambassador Town Center is a roughly 60-acre premier regional shopping and entertainment destination, as well as a vital economic contributor to the area. With more than 430,000 square feet of retail space, the center offers a great variety of national and local shopping and dining options. Most of the retailers opened at Ambassador Town Center are either first-time locations within Lafayette or Louisiana, or both.
Located at the southeast corner of Lafayette’s ‘main-at-main’ intersection, Ambassador Caffery Parkway & Kaliste Saloom Road, the development also includes 5 Star Nutrition, Avalon Salon & Spa, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Blaze Pizza, Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant, Costco Gasoline, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Five Below, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Half Shell Oyster House, I Love Juice Bar, Just 4 Him Men’s Haircut Lounge, Marshalls/HomeGoods, Nordstrom Rack, Off Broadway Shoes, Orangetheory Fitness, Panda Express, Panera Bread, PetSmart, Phone Zone, Professor Bob Beans Coffee Bar & Ice Cream Lab, Red Robin, Sprint, Subway, Tao Asian Cuisine, World of Beer and Verizon.
Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. formed a joint venture to develop the center, and construction began in January of 2015. The companies currently manage and lease the property. Ambassador Town Center has been credited with creating approximately 2,200 construction jobs, roughly 1,700 permanent jobs and nearly $9 million annually in sales taxes for the City of Lafayette.
