A Great Way To Relax and Enjoy Louisiana Nature

 Louisiana Tours and Adventures is the place people can go to relax and enjoy Louisiana nature at its finest. Captain Mike Jones loves exploring the Tchefuncte River and is a native of Madisonville.

“The river was always a cool place to be. I’ve always enjoyed everything about the water. I feel at home when I’m out there,” Capt. Mike said. “I love to ski and fish and see all of the wildlife. I think it’s the best place around. Growing up, that’s where I spent all of my time and where I learned so much about nature and the area’s rich history.”

Small groups of family or friends can go along on Captain Mike’s pontoon boat to see what the river has to offer. He has been doing tours through the Tchefuncte and its surrounding waterways. Wildlife along the tour can consist of turtles, deer, wild hogs, raccoons, alligators, owls, nesting ospreys and much more.

“I have a standard two-hour tour where we leave and make a big loop along the river and through a maze of cypress swamps. During the tour, I provide a narration on the history of the area and point out alligators and other wildlife,” Capt. Mike said. “I’m good at spotting them and pointing them out to people. It’s a way to see the region in a different way.”

“I really enjoy it personally because I get to see the animals progress over the years and see how their populations change,” Capt. Mike said. “We’re able to get really close to them. It’s always a real treat for people.”

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Tickets Sales to Covington Filmmaker's Movie Goes to St. Tammany Art Association

 The movie, by Covington filmmaker and photographer Andrew Boyd, is about a retired sugarcane farmer and his family. Joe Judice and his family have been in the sugarcane industry in St. Martin Parish since the 1800’s.

“You spend a career meeting and filming and photographing people, and you know a good story when you see one. This looked like a great story,” says Boyd.

The movie is called Sugar in Their Blood and was funded by Boyd himself. He tells their story through interviews of the family and of professionals in the industry. You learn of the history and challenges of the industry. Joe and his brother Robert own Judice Brothers Farms which opened in 1964 between Loreaufille and New Iberia. The 2,600 acres is now run by Robert’s son Robert Jr. and Joe’s sons Jim and Justin. The family allowed Boyd to film the day to day operations of the farm.

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Aldi Soon To Have Locations on the Northshore

 Aldi has already opened its first store in Louisiana earlier this year and has announced it will open three additional locations around the New Orleans area. Those locations will be Metairie, Slidell, and Covington.

Aldi is a German-based company that began to establish stores in the U.S. in 1976. Now there are over 2,100 stores in 37 states. It soon will become the country's third-largest grocery retailer in terms of location. Most stores are around 12,000 square feet and have less than a dozen employees.

The first store is located at 4510 Ambassador Caffery Parkway in
Lafayette opened in February 2022. The company purchased the old Toys "R" Us building in Slidell for $2 million which will be converted into an Aldi. They are planning a store in Marrero which will be in the Old Belle Promenade Mall. Land has also been purchased in Baton Rouge and stores are planned for Lafayette and New Iberia.

This comes as no surprise as Aldi is building a regional headquarters and distribution hub in Loxley, Alabama. The $100 million project, close to Mobile, will be completed at the end of the year. The new project will service close to 100 Gulf Coast locations which include southern parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, along with the Florida Panhandle.

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Louisiana Homeowners Can Apply For $25K Grants To Help With Home Mortgage Payments

COVID-19 hit the U.S. not only with a health crisis but a financial crisis as well. Due to the pandemic, Louisiana is offering their homeowners $25,000 each in order to help catch up on late mortgage payments. Residents who are at risk of foreclosure can apply for the Lousiana Homeowner Assistance Fund.

The Lousiana Homeowner Assistance Fund is federally funded and is for Louisiana homeowners who are having a hard time paying their mortgage payment due to COVID-19 financial impacts. The program is through the Lousiana Office of Community Development under the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The program has been funded $146.7 million in federal pandemic aid. Homeowners who are earning less than 150 percent of the area median income or 100 percent of the national median income, whichever is greater.

Statewide the amount of income per household varies. For example, a three-person household in Orleans Parish who makes less than $94,650 will be eligible. A three-person household in East Baton Rouge Parish who makes less than $107,100 can get the funding.

Any homeowner in Louisiana can apply for free by submitting an application online. The application will then be assigned to a case manager. The case manager will then review for eligibility and might ask for additional documentation. Once approved the mortgage services will be paid directly on the homeowner's behalf.

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Highway To Link St. Tammany Parish to Bogalusa Will Be Funded

Talk of a highway being built to connect St. Tammany Parish to Bogalusa has been discussed for years. The four-lane road has been on Louisiana's state project list for over thirty years. Finally, funding has come through for the project.

"My age group thought the older people were crazy," Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette, who is 45, said. "They were holding on to a hope we didn't ever see coming."

"A lot of people weren't even born when we started talking about this," Washington Parish Sen. Beth Mizell said.

The highway named La. 3241 will be funded by money from Louisiana's 4-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax. The highway which will run through St. Tammany, from Bush to I-12, will be a "vital artery for Bogalusa. The $240 million project will run from the junction of La. 40 and La. 41 in Bush south through the central part of St. Tammany Parish to connect
with I-12 and will be completed by the end of 2024.

Many sections throughout the area will benefit such as the paper mill in Bogalusa and the economic development of St. Tammany Parish. The new highway will not only allow easier access to these areas but will also create jobs. It will improve St. Tammany businesses' logistics, distribution and transportation.

This project comes at a great time for the city of Bogalusa which is starting to see growth in retirees and young families who are looking for lower housing costs.

"A young family can live here for a little bit of nothing," Perrette said of the area. "Property taxes are low, it's affordable. It's beneficial even if you had to commute."

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Another Economic Corridor For St. Tammany

Wadsworth Estate and another adjacent property might just be the next economic corridor in St. Tammany. Wadsworth Estates, north of Mandeville, was sold last week at auction to Mandeville developer John Crosby for $9-million. The 65 acres adjacent to the property is owned by Azby Fund. St. Tammany Parish economic development agency's CEO Chris Masingill and St. Tammany Parish President Michael Cooper are talking with both parties about using the land for an economic corridor.

"We plan on really leaning in on this site development," said Masingill. "We see it as a significant step in a much bigger initiative.

All three parties are in agreement to develop the 160-acres into a commercial hub. The development would include some combination of advanced manufacturing, transportation and distribution, which they say would create hundreds of new high-paying jobs for the area.  The development will more than likely be eligible for tax breaks and other incentives. Masingill hopes that the tax breaks and incentives will entice manufacturers and distribution facilities.

"That is the largest ... development tract in south Louisiana that has wetlands and zoning approval," said Beau Box, a commercial real estate broker who is advising the Azby Fund. "There is a lot of positive momentum behind development there now that there is a new owner for Wadsworth."

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Buy a New Home on the Northshore at Bedico Creek Preserve

When relocating to the Greater New Orleans area, you may want to buy a new home on the Northshore at Bedico Creek Preserve.  If you are considering relocating to the tight knit area of West St. Tammany Parish, you can enjoy the ambiance of downtown Covington, LA, which is located approximately 7 miles from Bedico Creek Preserve.  Living in Madisonville, Louisiana, at Bedico Creek gives you easy access to shopping, entertainment, and dining at the many locations of the two shopping areas Colonial Pinnacle at Nord Du Luc and Stirling Covington Shopping Center off of Highway 21.  In addition to the prolific shopping at mall stores such as JC Penny, Belk, and Lane Bryant, Colonial Pinnacle at Nord Du Luc and Stirling Covington Shopping Center also showcase box stores such as Academy Sports, Kohls, Best Buy, Marshalls, Target, Hobby Lobby, as well as the Hollywood Stadium 14 movie theater.  This Covington, Louisiana shopping area also features restaurants such as Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, Cracker Barrel, and Panera Bread Company.  For faster food and service, you can visit Steak & Shake, Firehouse Subs, and Dickeys Barbeque Pit.

Bedico Creek Preserve offers lots and homes for sale in its masterplanned community in St. Tammany Parish.  Lots for sale start in the mid $40’s, and new homes for sale begin in the $230’s.  If you are interested in building your own new, custom home or if you are looking to relocate to one of our existing homes for sale, you can find any lot or home in a selection of different neighborhoods in this St. Tammany Parish subdivision.  Contact Bedico Creek today to schedule your tour.  Call 985-845-4200 or E-mail Info@LiveBedico.com.

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More Homes Are Being Built to Supplement the Housing Inventory Shortage

A shortage in homes and a strong job market in the Greater New Orleans area definitely strengthened the housing market, especially in new home construction and the advent of new subdivisions. Solid hiring in the job market, low mortgage rates and easier credit conditions have driven the demand for new home buyers to purchase a new home for sale. The Greater New Orleans area alone represents 20% of the new jobs that have been created this year in the state of Louisiana which has led to the strong home sales on both the north shore and the south shore.

West St. Tammany Parish has seen a decrease in housing inventory making the average sales price increase.  The housing market in general is leaning more towards a seller’s market because of the lack of supply of homes for sale.  This lack of inventory in homes priced from $190,000 – $300,000 is causing a bidding war pulling the average sales price for metro New Orleans up by 7.8% from $197,300 to $212,610. New Orleans has seen an increase from 21,954 homes sold annually in 2010 to 30,322 in 2014. Homeowners are starting to realize that this is the time to sell, and for home builders now is the time to build new homes for sale in St. Tammany Parish on the northshore.

On the flip side, home buyers will not have long to wait because more homes are being built which means the inventory problem will start to correct itself. According to Richard Haase, president of NAI/Latter & Blum, who reported at the UNO/Latter & Blum Economic Outlook & Real Estate Forecast Seminar for the Northshore Region, which was held at the Clarion Inn & Suites Conference Center in Covington, ”There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” he said, because tight lending standards have kept potential buyers out of the homebuying market, even as the economy recovered. ”For the next one or two years, I’m extremely optimistic about housing prices and housing affordability,” Haase said. ”We’re in a very healthy supply-and-demand market.”

Bedico Creek Preserve in Madisonville, Louisiana, offers new homes for sale that could plug the dearth of homes priced from $190,000 – $300,000.  Two neighborhoods being built in this master planned community in St. Tammany Parish offer new homes for sale from the $230’s – $300’s. 

These two neighborhoods are called Cypress Crossing and Deer Park.  Also, if you purchase one of our lots for sale in the Garden / Courtyard section of this St. Tammany Parish subdivision, you can build a home starting from the $290’s.  For more information about our homes for sale, Contact Bedico Creek at 985-845-4200 or E-mail Info@LiveBedico.com.

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New Home Building Project in Covington Back on Track

As the job market gets stronger, so does the housing market.  Building supply retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement have seen a huge spike in sales in building materials and accessories this spring.  According to New Orleans City Business, “Homebuilders broke ground on more houses and apartment complexes in April, a sign that they’re gearing up for more sales. The annual pace of housing starts jumped 20.2 percent from March to 1.14 million, the highest rate since November 2007, a month before the recession began. There was also a 10.1 percent increase in

approved building permits, which suggests that construction levels should continue to improve.”
With an upward turn in the housing market, a new home building project which was put on hold during the market crash in 2008 is now resurfacing. The Oak Alley Meadows development in Covington, LA near the intersection of Orchard and Dominic Drives went before the Covington Zoning Commission May 18, 2015 and was approved.

Lonesome Development is the developer which is interested in annexing the land in North Covington for the neighborhood development project.  The 87-acre tract of land under discussion will include both residential and commercial new construction.  Plans for this new subdivision in St. Tammany Parish include 205 single-family lots and two commercial sites. The developer will use 80.4 acres of the land for homesites to build new homes and 6.7 acres of the land for the commercial development. The plan is to build the development in four phases.

Even though it is adjacent to the land that is currently in the final phases of lot development at Oak Alley Subdivision, the new Oak Alley Meadows development is a separate community from the current Oak Alley.  DSLD Homes is building the final new homes for sale in this community and once it is completed, there will be a total of 300 newly built homes.


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