BATON ROUGE - The land is being graded for the controversial Rouzan development, which would include hundreds of single-family homes and commercial development.

The new owners lead by John Engquist through Engquist-Rouzan Development, LLC, took ownership of the remaining commercial and residential property within the last five months and plan to begin foundation work in the next two weeks. 

"People that never even thought about it are very excited about the opportunity to move into Rouzan's. And because we also announced a $3.5 million amenities program," said Charles Landry, with Engquist-Rouzan Development LLC. 

Landry says this mixed-used development will take more than ten years to fully complete.

The development will be home to hundreds of homes, businesses, and a new South Branch Library. The parish's library board will ask the city to finalize and approve the purchase of the property and will eventually construct the building.

The development will bring several amenities like a fitness center, pool and even a biking trail.

Keith Guillot's business, Perkins Road Car Wash, is across the street from the development, and he's excited the project is moving forward.

"I'm optimistic that it'll be more traffic to the area and revitalize the Perkins and College Drive corridor."