LEDA/Opportunity Machine

LEDA, Realtor Commercial Alliance launch Breakfast Series

by Gregg Gothreaux, LEDA

Photo by Robin May

LEDA has many allies in the community — from UL Lafayette to LCG, from One Acadiana to local utility providers. We work together to retain and grow local businesses and to recruit new businesses to the region. One of the strongest allies in our economic development efforts are our local real estate professionals.

LEDA’s staff depends on their expertise and intimate knowledge of the region’s office space, warehouses, storefronts, land and more as we help businesses identify potential locations. Our Recruitment, Retention and Expansion, and Market Intelligence departments work closely with commercial real estate agents to provide accurate and up-to-date information about available properties. Whether it’s a 1,000-square-foot office space or a 20,000-square-foot warehouse, we’ll work closely with our real estate allies to find the property that best fits a business’ needs.

When we receive an RFP from Louisiana Economic Development or a corporate site selector or a direct request from a company for site assistance, we turn to the real estate community. LEDA’s property team will search LACDB and send out a request for sites/ buildings that match the criteria provided by the company.

Many times we only receive basic information about the company and the property they are looking for. These requests have a quick turnaround period to collect data and create a marketing package for the property and the community. Our real estate allies understand the timeliness of these requests, and we appreciate their willing assistance.

For many years LEDA has partnered with the Realtor Association of Acadiana and the Realtor Commercial Alliance to host seminars and workshops for our real estate partners. This summer LEDA and the Realtor Commercial Alliance will launch a breakfast series to expand our relationships with commercial agents and developers. The series will feature prominent local, regional or state leaders discussing issues that may impact real estate professionals, their clients and the overall community.

The LEDA/RCA Breakfast Series kicks off May 24 with Mayor Joel Robideaux. The series continues on July 20 with the staff of the Planning and Zoning department of LCG. The final two sessions will take place on Sept. 21 and Nov. 30. The meetings will be held at LEDA’s office from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The series is the latest way LEDA is working with the real estate community. Our research team, in the Market Intelligence and Strategic Analysis departments, works with dozens of agents/developers each year by providing market research, either for them directly or for their clients. With access to demographics, traffic counts and economic indicators, our staff provides in-depth, customized market research. That research, paired with our robust mapping abilities and business lists, helps to paint a picture of what success can be in Lafayette.

If you’re a real estate professional and want to begin working with LEDA or you want to know what kind of market research we can provide, visit lafayette. org/realestate.

Gregg Gothreaux is president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority.