Tag Archives: Matt Ritchie

Angela Cox, a bartender at Spirits on Texas Avenue in Alexandria, pours a glass of wine for a patron Friday night. Unlike Alexandria restaurants, Pineville restaurants cannot serve alcohol, which some believe holds back expansion in the city. MELINDA MARTINEZ/MMARTINEZ@THETOWNTALK.COM

Written by

Jeff Matthews

It’s the perfect spot for a hotel, Rod Noles thinks. But no hotel will consider locating there.

Noles, a longtime real estate professional in the area, co-owns property off the Cottingham Expressway in Pineville with another local realtor, Matt Ritchie. They had a deal a couple of years ago for a hotel on the site, adjacent to Super 1 Foods, but delays as they jumped through hoops to settle deed restrictions killed the project.

Other hotel representatives have shown interest in the property since then, but ultimately they all pass. The sticking point — merchants cannot sell alcohol in the Pineville city limits.

“Two hotel owners have been directed to the property,” Noles said. “They own multiple hotels, and they told us the hotels they have that perform the worst are ones where hotel guests can’t get a glass of beer or wine with their meal before they return to their room.”

Read more:  http://www.thetowntalk.com/

I would dare say “many” as opposed to “some”.  But what do I know?  I’m  just an average guy with a blog that lives in a dry city.

I’m not even a big fan of alcohol but I do like a slug now and then with friends.  It’s a no brainier that being a dry city stifles growth and to a certain extent progress.

There would be a much larger variety of businesses that would open up right here in Pineville the second the city became wet.

The makeup of CENLA has changed greatly since Hurricane Katrina.   Many people from New Orleans who evacuated decided to stay right here.   They are used to buses that give out transfers, and pass by every half hour  –  places to go, things to do that generally have alcohol sales involved.

Some people don’t want this area to change, but I am afraid sometimes change comes whether you like it or not.

CENLA is a crossroads for most folks,  it could be more of a destination with the right marketing, and a few changes that would create growth.  With progress and growth comes having to be tolerant with some of the changes you may not like or didn’t expect.