http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1907805 Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- An Alabama developer has some upscale comfort in the future for football fans: condominiums designed as "field houses" next to stadiums. Birmingham-based Capstone Development Corp. has built student housing for 14 years and now plans to construct luxury sports condominiums in places such as Baton Rouge and Green Bay, Wisc. "This is a concept that will take tailgating to the next level," said Will Bru, who is co-director of project development with Kent Campbell, both Capstone senior vice presidents. Capstone's first groundbreaking is slated for early 2005 in Baton Rouge, outside LSU's Tiger Stadium. The project could be completed by the start of the 2005 football season. The firm plans to build condos on four college campuses as well as outside the Green Bay Packers' Lambeau Field. Other developments set for groundbreakings next year include sites in Starkville, Miss., home of Mississippi State; Manhattan, Kan., home of Kansas State; and Louisville, Ky., home of the University of Louisville. Bru and Campbell were in Green Bay on Thursday sharing architectural plans with potential investors there. "These will be loft-style units with one bedroom, a large entertainment area, allowing owners to custom-design them as they want," Bru said. "We're getting calls from buyers all over the country interested in these." Buyers will have their choices of condos ranging from $150,000 to $600,000, depending on the area with places like Green Bay being most expensive and Starkville more affordable, Bru said. Each development will be less than a mile from the stadiums and include retail stores and coffee shops. A rendering of the Baton Rouge development shows four-story and three-story buildings designed to resemble the French Quarter. "Lots of LSU fans love New Orleans so we wanted to capitalize on that," Bru said. The buildings housing the Green Bay condos, slated to open by the fall of 2006, will have a look similar to Lambeau Field. Capstone' owner, Mike Mouron, is a University of Alabama graduate and would love to build one at Tuscaloosa. "We've looked at Auburn and that is probably more likely to happen sooner," he said. This is the first venture outside traditional student housing for Capstone, which has invested $1.3 billion on developments with a combined 38,000 rooms nationwide. In Birmingham, Capstone developed UAB's Blount Hall four years ago.
less than a mile? theres lots of apartments already less than a mile from the stadium...what's the difference? Oh, yeah, those apartments are crap. However, I think that would be a great application for the stadium dorms...they're not being used at all, are they? Renovate them and turn those into condos, ideally with balconies. People would pay big money for those. Somebody get TAF on the phone!
Baton Rouge Fieldhouse There is the website for the proposed condos located in Baton Rouge...personal sidenote however, these are the same developers that run University Commons Apartments, which I lived in last year. They never provide any maintenance at all...you'll put in a request for maintenance and it will NEVER happen, then they rip you off with bogus charges when you move out. They told us that our apartment was the cleanest boys apartment that they had inspected, yet the 4 of us were still charged $375 EACH for "damages." I will never recommend Capstone Properties to anybody else. I have plenty of other rants about Capstone Properties, but I will keep them to myself.
The condos slated for development by the Alabama company will be located on Nicholson right outside the gates.
I think that is a good idea, I proposed the same thing yesterday in the Tiger Stadium thread (the one about Texas AM possible new seating). I feel if we re-structure the lower bowl, we could make use of replacing the old dorms with hotel rooms. I don't think there would be a cooler experience in all of college football to stay in Tiger Stadium for the weekend of a game. I was in one of the last classes that had the option of living in the stadium, I didn't, but I did visit some friends in there . . . it was a horrible dorm room, but pretty cool anyway.
I don't think they need to restructure the lower bowl to put in a hotel/condo in tiger stadium. The existing dorm buildings could be renovated right now. Rip down some walls, install balconies...there would be some major interior/exterior renovations, but it would definitely pay off, and I would envision it looking pretty cool too....and the sale/rental could be tied to luxury boxes...with special elevators/direct access up to the luxury box area, and even the rest of the stadium. the more I think about it, I can't believe that TAF isn't all over this already. That is prime real estate just sitting there!
The only reason I mentioned the re-structure, is that yesterday Red said that the lower bowl is long over due for some repairs and possible restructure (80 years old or something like that). Sure, you could easily convert those old dorms into hotel rooms right now (and probably bring them up to code), you could even just redesign the dorms to accomadate better rooms for the hotel (by making them bigger with more modern stuff), but all in all I think it is a good idea which would keep the feel of the old historic dorms. I agree with you, I don't understand why something like this isn't in the works already. LSU could really take advantage of something like this, and make a nice buck off of it while interest in Tiger football is sky high. I also like the idea about the rooms having access to the lux boxes, perfect for families or large parties. I know I rather pay a little extra to have a "room" at Tiger stadium over some pre-fab condo a mile away from the stadium that will more than likely be a glorified shed. I graduated from the LSU college of Design in Arch, and I can tell you there are plenty of Arch students that would love to take on the task of redesigning those old dorm rooms. Why give some shed company from Ala a shot when we have plenty of talented people right there on campus.
First of all, if the condos are outside the gates, then it's not LSU overlooking hometown talent to make them happen--it's the land owner. Second, didn't the stadium dorms have hall baths? That would be a major drawback since the renters would want private baths since they would be paying major bucks for the honor of having a room in Deaf Valley. Now if they did build a new stadium across from the Vet School, it would be cool to have party rooms built in. But then again, which hill would the band run down? That would be a long march. GEAUX TIGERS
