Each week, we’ll offer insights into new businesses, developments and closings in the area. And we’ll answer your questions about what’s happening in a vacant store or empty lot. Email us at wpotter@theadvertiser.com.
Local and state stakeholders celebrated the completion of the $32-million Bottle Art Lofts development, a project that Lafayette leaders hope will spur reinvestment in the city's Four Corners neighborhood.
The 105-unit complex was built out of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant and on the lot that previously housed the LessPay Motel.
"We had so many people tell us that this was impossible," Stephanie Cornay Dugan said Thursday. "It feels fantastic. It really is something that we are so proud of."
Bottle Art Lofts: Lafayette’s Bottle Art Lofts project hailed as ‘truly transformational’ for Four Corners
More: Four Corners' Bottle Art Lofts aim for May move-in date, Phase II funding secured
Dugan and her husband Greg, along with a handful of community members, sold the bottling plant to developer HRI Communities, which navigated a complicated process to secure $13 million in state and federal funding for the project, plus a $1.5 million loan from the city of Lafayette.
"The opportunity to fix a bigger problem is exactly what attracted us to the Four Corners neighborhood," HRI Communities President Josh Collen said at Thursday's completion celebration.
TD Bank Group buying First Horizon, former IBERIABANK
TD Bank Group, the Canadian financial giant with more than 26 million U.S. customers, will soon be the owner of former IBERIABANK locations following the acquisition of First Horizon on Monday.
First Horizon, a Memphis-based banking group, bought IBERIABANK in 2020 and began the process of rebranding IBERIABANK locations as First Horizon, with signs going up across Acadiana in the last several weeks. As part of the merger, Acadiana lost the IBERIABANK headquarters as First Horizon set up its regional headquarters in New Orleans.
IBERIABANK: TD Bank Group buying IBERIABANK parent company, becoming one of the largest banks in U.S.
The sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023. TD is buying First Horizon for $13.4 billion, according to a release from the two banking groups.
KOK opening Baton Rouge location
KOK Wings and Things, an Acadiana chicken wing restaurant that quickly became one of the area's most popular joints, announced that it would be adding a restaurant in Baton Rouge.
The restaurant, which has two locations in Lafayette and one in Franklin, made the announcement on Facebook in a National Signing Day-style video. In the video, the company's leadership said adding a Baton Rouge location would allow them to "make the biggest impact in the community."