GeauxTo
12-06-2005, 04:03 PM
Giant homebuilders descend on Louisiana; Shaw/KB to start with 20,000-home project
The big homebuilders are descending on Louisiana and Baton Rouge. This morning, the Shaw Group Inc. and KB Builders announced a joint venture that will build thousands of new homes in Louisiana. Their first project will be in the New Orleans region, where the companies plan a 20,000-home project on 3,000 acres near Avondale.
The two companies are counting on building houses quickly to feed the demand for new homes by evacuees. So are other giant homebuilders, who are searching for land in the region, including Baton Rouge.
Chris Sammons, spokesman for Shaw, says the joint venture will look for projects in Baton Rouge and other cities across the region. A source who has been in meetings with big homebuilders says at least four are scouting the Baton Rouge metropolitan region and D.R. Horton says it is already building houses in Baton Rouge.
A source tells Daily Report the companies also are looking on the West Bank and in Iberville Parish. An Iberville tract of more than 2,500 acres is expected to sell to one of the builders in the new year. KB/Shaw hopes to get approval of its Avondale project in weeks so it can quickly begin construction. KB, which has twice the revenue of Shaw, specializes in starter and move-up homes for moderate-income households.
The big homebuilders are descending on Louisiana and Baton Rouge. This morning, the Shaw Group Inc. and KB Builders announced a joint venture that will build thousands of new homes in Louisiana. Their first project will be in the New Orleans region, where the companies plan a 20,000-home project on 3,000 acres near Avondale.
The two companies are counting on building houses quickly to feed the demand for new homes by evacuees. So are other giant homebuilders, who are searching for land in the region, including Baton Rouge.
Chris Sammons, spokesman for Shaw, says the joint venture will look for projects in Baton Rouge and other cities across the region. A source who has been in meetings with big homebuilders says at least four are scouting the Baton Rouge metropolitan region and D.R. Horton says it is already building houses in Baton Rouge.
A source tells Daily Report the companies also are looking on the West Bank and in Iberville Parish. An Iberville tract of more than 2,500 acres is expected to sell to one of the builders in the new year. KB/Shaw hopes to get approval of its Avondale project in weeks so it can quickly begin construction. KB, which has twice the revenue of Shaw, specializes in starter and move-up homes for moderate-income households.