Carter decides against Senate run

State Rep. Steve Carter, chairman of the Capital Region Legislative Delegation, has decided against running in the upcoming Senate District 16 election. The freshman Republican says the nine-parish delegation is just beginning to make substantial progress, and there are too many “great opportunities” ahead. “I firmly believe my work in the House is not done yet and have therefore decided to not run for Senate at this time,” Carter said through a spokesperson Monday night.

Baton Rouge attorney Dan Claitor is another Republican eyeing the conservative-leaning district. He shared his own polling data with The Advocate over the weekend, conducted by Southern Media & Opinion Research, which showed his potential campaign leading the contest-to-be, followed by Carter. If nothing else, it places Claitor among the few already dropping cash in the all-GOP field. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he ran unsuccessfully for district attorney last year. For the full story, click here.—Jeremy Alford

Preis donates land for Howell Place YMCA

Construction will start in late spring or early summer on a 12,000-square-foot YMCA branch in the Howell Place development in north Baton Rouge. Richard Preis, who is developing Howell Place, donated a 2.8-acre tract along 72nd Avenue, near Howell Boulevard, to the YMCA of the Capital Area. The land is valued at $900,000. "This all goes back to why I did Howell Place," Pries says. "It's about bringing services to the people vs. people having to go to the services." The Howell Place YMCA, which should open in August or September 2010, will cater to employees of the nearby ExxonMobil and Baton Rouge Coca-Cola plants, as well as Southern University and residents of Baker and Zachary. The state has put aside $850,000 in capital outlay funds for the project, says Bob Jacobs, president and CEO of the Capital YMCA. This will be the seventh YMCA facility in the Capital Region. Jacobs says the site is "nicely put together" and next to BREC ballparks and walking trails.—Timothy Boone

Renowned chef wants to set up B.R. location

Rumors that renowned 10/12 corridor Chef John Besh is about to expand his growing restaurant empire to Baton Rouge are exaggerated—but only somewhat. The chef—who now owns five restaurants in New Orleans and on the Northshore—has looked at the old Bogan Fire Station, which will be available once the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge strikes a deal to move into One Eleven. But Besh tells Daily Report the timing is just not right. He’s currently busy with Domenica, a casual Italian eatery he’s opening this spring in the soon-to-be-restored Roosevelt Hotel (formerly the Fairmont) on Baronne Street in New Orleans. La Provence in Lacombe and Restaurant August, Besh Steakhouse and Lüke in the Crescent City round out his stable. “We don’t have any solid plans yet to move into the fire station,” he says. “I love Baton Rouge, but we’re just not ready as we have so many irons in the fire in New Orleans. Before we even discuss branching out, I want to make sure all of our businesses are solidified here.” Besh adds, however, that he does hope to be in downtown Baton Rouge within the next couple of years. “Baton Rouge is our backyard,” he adds. “We want to make sure what we do is done for the right reasons at the best time, to make sure it’s successful.” To read more about Besh, click here.—Penny Brown Font

BRAC welcoming people back to Baton Rouge

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber today announced the beginning of the “Welcome Back to Baton Rouge” workforce recruitment campaign, touting the availability of high-paying local jobs in information technology, engineering, medicine, financial services and other fields to former residents. The campaign mainly consists of online advertising with business journals in Atlanta, Dallas and Houston. The three cities were selected because they are the main recipients of Louisiana talent. Additional advertising includes online ads on LSU Alumni Web sites and future print advertisements in LSU Magazine in the Spring and Summer 2009 editions. The chamber’s partners in the effort include Antares Technology Solutions, Ascension Economic Development Corporation, Baton Rouge General, IEM, Livingston Economic Development Council, The Shaw Group, and the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. Click here to see the campaign's Web site. For a Business Report story about the campaign, click here.

Amedisys shares up on profit news

Shares of Amedisys shot up this morning after the home nursing company announced it expects past acquisitions and improvements at current operations to boost profit in 2009. The Baton Rouge-based company said it expects profit between $4.10 and $4.30 per share on revenue between just under $1.43 billion and $1.48 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expect profit of $3.82 per share on revenue of $1.41 billion. As of 11 a.m., shares of Amedisys were up 14%, trading at just under $46. Amedisys also announced Larry R. Graham, president and chief operating officer, would join the board of directors. Graham has worked at the company since 1996.

Real Estate Weekly: OLOL purchases site near I-10

Real Estate Weekly is out with news about Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center's purchase of 58 acres along Interstate 10 between Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard and what Tom Cook says could be some of the potential uses for the site. Plus, news about a Spanish Town development, CompUSA building remains empty, new officers for the Capital Region Builders Association and the latest column from Brian Andrews. Read the newsletter here.

Local Jim Walter Homes dealership to close

Jim Walter Homes is going out of business, a move that will shut down the company's five Louisiana dealerships. Walter Industries, the parent company of Jim Walter Homes, says it is eliminating the shell home business in order to become a natural resources and industries business. Jim Walter has dealerships in Baton Rouge, Hammond, Shreveport, Alexandria and Houma. Officials say Jim Walter Homes, which built more than 350,000 houses during its 62-year history, hasn't been profitable in years. The move will put about 230 employees out of work, most in the company's Tampa, Fla., headquarters. All homes under construction will be finished.

Pending home sales plunge to record low

Pending U.S. home sales fell to the lowest level on record in November, as the plummeting stock market and faltering economy gave more buyers cold feet, the National Association of Realtors said today. The index, which tracks signed contracts to purchase existing homes, fell 4% to 82.3 from a downwardly revised October reading of 85.7 in October. That was far worse than the reading of 88 that economists expected, according to Thomson Reuters. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal. So November's decline foreshadows bleak results for December's existing home sales numbers, set to be release Jan. 26. Sales contracts fell around the country, but were weakest in the Northeast and Midwest. The Realtors' index was down 5.3% from November 2007, and now sits at the lowest since in its eight-year history—beating the previous record low of 83 in March 2008. An index reading of 100 is equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001, when the index started.

Poll: What should OLOL do with its new property?

Yesterday's Daily Report poll was taken down because of vote stacking.

Today's question: What should Our Lady of the Lake do with the undeveloped land it bought along Interstate 10?

News roundup: General Growth settles suit … Shaw gets more credit … Survey says more people coming to Louisiana

Mall owner pays $48 million in settlement: Struggling mall operator General Growth Properties, the parent company of the Mall of Louisiana, says today it will pay $48 million to settle a lawsuit related to a California mall joint venture. General Growth, the country's second-largest mall owner, is saddled with huge amounts of debt it took on during the real estate market's boom years when it aggressively bought up assets. In the February 2004 lawsuit, Caruso Affiliated Holdings was initially awarded $89.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages in December 2007. General Growth appealed the decision, which resulted in the settlement. As part of the settlement General Growth will also pay $5.5 million to its joint venture partner in GGP/Homart II.

Lending more than a hand: The Shaw Group announced one of its lenders is offering to extend $45 million under the company's credit facility for another year. Shaw has just over $1 billion in commitments through the credit facility through April 25, 2010, and $874 million through April 25, 2011.

Come on over: More people were moving into Louisiana during 2008 than out of the state, according to a survey from United Van Lines. According to the report, based on nearly 199,000 interstate household moves, 54% of the moves involving Louisiana were going into the state. The District of Columbia was the top destination, with 62.1% of the moves going into the area, while Michigan was the top outbound state for the third year in a row.