DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
ADVOCATE THE LIVINGSTON -TANGIPAHOA
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, M ay 7, 2025
1GN
Experts weigh in on area real estate market Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Food Truck Roundup rescheduled Denham Springs Food Truck Roundup has been rescheduled for May 17. The event was planned for May 3 but postponed due to inclement weather. Food trucks will serve up their favorites from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mattie Street in the city’s Antique District.
BY TIMOTHY BOONE Business editor
Elevated interest rates, inflation and rising insurance costs are expected to limit commercial and residential construction in metro Baton Rouge in 2025, which means the local real estate market will look about the same as it has for the past couple of years, according to local experts. Speakers at the annual Trends in Real Estate seminar, which was held Thursday morning at L’Auberge Baton Rouge, said
rents will be about the same in the retail, office and multifamily sector, while home construction will remain flat. “The volume is down because of interest rates, and I don’t see that changing,” said Tom Cook, an appraiser with Cook, Moore, Davenport & Associates, who gave a presentation on the residential market. The number of new homes permitted in Ascension and Livingston parishes plunged in 2024, dropping by more than 15% and coming in at their lowest levels since 2015,
when Cook said he started tracking permits. Ascension and Livingston have both had development moratoriums to allow the fast-growing parishes to set growth rules. New home permits in East Baton Rouge Parish were up by 58% in 2024, which caused the metro area to see a 14.7% rise to 3,443 permits. The dollar value of all homes sold in metro Baton Rouge peaked at $3.79 billion in 2022, but fell to $2.65 billion in 2024. That $1.14 billion drop had an impact on the local economy. Since the average home price is $264,900, that is equivalent
to nearly 4,300 houses not being sold, which means less money for appraisers, home inspectors, title companies and real estate agents. One sector that has seen improvement in recent years is the industrial market, where the inventory remains tight and rental rates increased by nearly 4.7% from the start to the end of 2024. Evan Scroggs of Lee & Associates said the demand for warehouse and distribution space in the local market will increase, thanks
ä See REAL ESTATE, page 2G
Blue Ducky 5K Waddle back The Blue Ducky 5K Waddle, held in remembrance of Stephany Nicolosi, is returning for a second year May 17 in Springfield. The Blue Ducky comes from Stephany’s love of the color blue and her love of rubber duckies. After her death, Nicolosi’s organ, eye and tissue donations helped eight lives. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Chris Klug Foundation, a nonprofit organization that educates on the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation. The event will be held at Tickfaw State Park. Check-in is from 6:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. and the race starts at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 17. Race entry is $45 and covers the cost of entry to the race and swag items. A virtual 5K has been added for May 24-31. For more information, visit, ultrasignup.com/ register.aspx?did=117645.
Cajun Country Jam The Cajun Country Jam Memorial Day Festival is set for May 23-25 at North Park in Denham Springs. The event, hosted by Chase Tyler, will feature performances by Frank Foster, Craig Moran, Dylan Scott, Wayne Toups, Parish County Line and others. For details, visit tinyurl.com/ yap63kfj.
Cruisin’ Da Bayou Car Show 2nd annual Cruisin’ Da bayou car show, fun run, and more. Tickfaw River Village Campground is hosting its second Cruisin’ Da Bayou Car Show Memorial Day weekend, May 23-25. The weekend will include car, truck and bike show with a $25 per vehicle entry. Call the Campground for to book a camping spot A Cruise Fun Run is set for May 23 by Bayhi’s Landing. Sign-up is $50 per team at 9 a.m. with stops at Black Lake Club, Manny’s, Boondocks Bar & Grill, Moonlight Inn, Daiquiri Shack and Bayhi’s Landing. 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. — teams may return to the pavilion to complete the fun run. winners announced immediately after. There will be food, live music and drinks available.
ä See AROUND, page 2G
PHOTOS BY DAVID NORMAND
Two-and-a-half year old Benjamin Collum picks out a yellow squash and puts it in a bag his mother, Victoria Collum, is holding during the weekly Four Seasons Farmers Market on the corner of Railroad Avenue and Hummel Street in Denham Springs. Watching them are John Collum and 15-month-old Theodore Collum.
GOOD FINDS
Collins Thornton, 9, left, shows her twin sister, Lucy, a bookmark in a booth Saturday during the weekly Four Seasons Farmers Market.
The weekly Four Seasons Farmers Market opens every Saturday in downtown Denham Springs providing fresh produce and crafts.
Foster child numbers hit record highs in some parishes
pee parishes, where children are shift at a donation center when she picked up from a Walmart. Foster care parents, her The parish consistently has some entering foster care in growing she received a call from the state of Children & Family of the highest numbers of children numbers, currently have zero fosresources struggle Department Services: A 14-year-old girl needed entering foster care in the state. ter homes available. At one point this year, it had more “You can’t turn a blind eye once to keep up with need a place to stay for the night.
Braun, who currently fosters seven children at her Livingston Parish home, can’t bring herself Staff writer to say no. The Louisiana woman On a Tuesday afternoon in Wat- has fostered nearly 100 children — son, Rebecca Braun was working from teenagers to a newborn baby
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD
than 220 foster children but only 21 certified foster homes. Braun’s is one of them. The shortage is widespread across the state. West Feliciana and Pointe Cou-
you see what’s out here, and you know that there’s not enough people out here willing to do it with you. … You just stay in the
ä See FOSTER, page 4G
Summer Reading 2025 May 19 - August 3
Kickoff Tuesday, May 27th Day: at all five branches
www.mylpl.info/summerreading