A price tag could be revealed for the current Woman's Hospital campus around the end of the year, officials say. With the institution set to move from its location at Airline Highway and Goodwood Boulevard to a new campus five miles southeast at Airline and Pecue Lane, plans are to appraise the old property 18 months ahead of the move, then sell it in one piece if possible. As to what alternate uses might suit the acute-care facility, established in 1968, Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate says turning the campus into a college resource would benefit the community. Mike Wampold, of real estate developer Wampold Companies, says the campus could become a teaching hospital or other medical school resource; otherwise he suggests demolishing the hospital to build apartments or retail. Both say the existing office building and parking at the site, close to Interstate 12 and centrally located in East Baton Rouge Parish, could be easily repurposed for another business use. —Todd R. Brown |
