ROUZAN RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Local businessman and investor John Engquist has acquired the mortgage on the Rouzan development from BancorpSouth for an undisclosed price. Engquist, president and CEO of H&E Equipment, tells Daily Report he is “involved with a group that has purchased the note and has basically taken the position of the bank.” He declines to provide further details. His attorney, Charles Landry, also declines to comment. While Engquist now holds the loan on Rouzan, developer Tommy Spinosa is still the owner of the Southdowns property, site of a long-planned mixed-use development. Spinosa acquired the 114-acre property in 2005 for $13.1 million, or about $115,000 per acre. The size of the mortgage to finance the deal is unknown, but commercial development loans are typically between 70% and 80% of the total price. —Stephanie Riegel