Good Morning, St. George - Hawaiian Bros Coming to Long Farm & More
It was a busy start to the week for development news in St. George, with several projects moving through the City’s Planning and Zoning process Monday night.
The headline getting the most attention is a new restaurant planned for Long Farm Village — but several other projects around the city are worth watching as well.
Here’s the latest.
Hawaiian Bros Island Grill Planned for Long Farm Village
The mystery restaurant we’ve been following in Long Farm Village finally has a name: Hawaiian Bros Island Grill.
The restaurant is planned for a roughly 0.75-acre site at 14637 Village Market Street in Long Farm Village.
This is a separate project from Cheba Hut, which just opened nearby at 14631 Village Market Street.
Hawaiian Bros is a fast-growing restaurant concept specializing in Hawaiian-style plate lunches. Its menu centers around chicken and pork dishes served with rice and macaroni salad, along with items such as SPAM musubi and Dole soft serve.
The company reported earlier this year that it had reached more than 70 locations across 14 states, with agreements in place for hundreds of additional restaurants as it continues a major national expansion.
That makes St. George part of a much larger growth push by the brand.
For Long Farm, it also continues a noticeable increase in restaurant and retail activity along Village Market Street.
Long Farm Continues to Grow
Hawaiian Bros is especially interesting when you look at what's happening around it.
Cheba Hut just opened nearby, joining the restaurants and businesses already operating in Long Farm Village.
And the City has already approved a revised overall concept plan for Long Farm earlier this year.
What we're seeing now is the next stage of that development: individual commercial sites filling in.
For St. George residents, that's one of the more visible ways the city's growth is beginning to show up in everyday life.
Instead of looking at a large development plan on a map, we're starting to see individual restaurants, businesses and buildings actually take shape.
Changes Are Also Moving Forward at The Settlement at Willow Grove
Long Farm wasn't the only major planned development discussed Monday.
Changes were also considered to the larger concept plan for The Settlement at Willow Grove.
The proposal involves portions of the development designated for residential use, commercial and office development, and common open space.
That's important because a concept-plan amendment isn't simply approval of one building.
It can change the framework that determines how different pieces of a much larger development are ultimately used.
Willow Grove is already one of the most recognizable master-planned communities in this part of Baton Rouge and St. George, so changes to its remaining undeveloped property are worth watching closely.
Perkins and Pecue Is Becoming an Important Development Corner
Another property I've been following is approximately 2.3 acres at 15222 Perkins Road near Pecue Lane.
The property has been seeking a change from residential zoning to business zoning and has already been deferred more than once during the City's review process.
What's interesting here is the location.
This property sits at Perkins and Pecue, less than a mile from the newer Pecue Lane interchange at Interstate 10.
It's also actively being marketed for commercial development.
The commercial listing specifically points to interstate access and future plans to widen Perkins Road as reasons the property could become increasingly attractive for development.
That's a small piece of a much larger question St. George is going to face over the next several years.
What happens to major intersections when new infrastructure suddenly makes them much more valuable for commercial development?
Perkins and Pecue is a good example.
The challenge for the City is balancing that new commercial opportunity against the residential neighborhoods that are already there.
A 184-Foot Communications Tower Was Also Considered on River Road
Another unusual proposal Monday involved a new AT&T wireless communications tower at 16001 River Road.
The requested tower height is 184 feet.
That's significant because the underlying zoning normally allows towers up to 85 feet. The applicant therefore requested a waiver for more than double the standard height.
St. George's development regulations do give the Zoning Commission authority to approve taller communications towers under certain circumstances.
For nearby property owners, however, a 184-foot structure is obviously considerably different from an ordinary neighborhood development.
It's another good example of why it's worth looking beyond the headline on a Planning & Zoning agenda and into what is actually being requested.
The VA Clinic Property Continues Moving Forward
The property associated with the planned VA outpatient clinic near Rieger Road and Pecue Lane also came before the Planning Commission Monday.
The latest request involves approximately 15.5 acres at 12500 and 12601 Rieger Road.
The proposal would divide two existing lots into three and establish a public drainage servitude.
This isn't the same issue as the zoning dispute that has surrounded the property.
Instead, it's another piece of the land-development process for the larger site.
The planned VA outpatient clinic is expected to be approximately 120,000 square feet with roughly 600 parking spaces, making it one of the larger development projects currently planned in this portion of St. George.
Why I'm Watching These Projects
The bigger story isn't really Hawaiian Bros, a cell tower or one commercial corner.
It's that St. George is entering a different phase.
For the first couple of years, much of the news surrounding the new city was about creating the government itself — hiring staff, establishing departments, adopting ordinances and figuring out which services St. George would provide.
Now we're increasingly talking about what gets built.
Where does commercial development go?
What happens along major corridors?
How do we handle development near established neighborhoods?
What does Long Farm look like when it is fully built out?
What happens around the new Pecue interchange?
How will the Rieger and Pecue area change if the VA clinic moves forward?
Those decisions will have a much more visible effect on everyday life in St. George than most government organizational decisions ever will.
They can affect traffic, businesses, neighborhood character and ultimately real estate.
That's why Planning & Zoning meetings are becoming one of the things I'm watching most closely.
Because today's site plan or rezoning request can become tomorrow's restaurant, shopping center, subdivision or major development.
And there's a lot moving right now.
I'll keep digging into the actual plans and meeting records as they become available.
Good morning, St. George.
David Madaffari is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and founder of Grassroots Real Estate Group with over 20 years of experience serving St. George and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He helps buyers, sellers, and renters navigate the market with friendly, personal, and honest service.
Equal Housing Opportunity. David Madaffari, Licensed Real Estate Broker, License #268528, regulated by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission. This article is general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Confirm your specific numbers and situation with your title company, tax advisor, or lender.
