BATON ROUGE - A massive parking lot on 6th Street has a new future coming its way.

Once a pay-to-park spot, the cement slab spanning from Florida Boulevard to Convention Street will become a new apartment complex.

The project, called the "Lofts at 6C," is a 150 unit residential development that is a part of the Downtown Development District's effort to expand the city's housing options.

"Just another piece of the puzzle that when you add all this residential downtown you increase the market and then other things will open up downtown," Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, said.

With the downtown area progressing, the five-story building will allow for people to live between Spanish Town and Beauregard Town.

Every unit will have a balcony and feature views of the Mississippi River and downtown.Construction has already begun and the developer and investor, John O'Hearn, predicts the project will be completed in 18 months.

Parking for the units will be available to residents underneath the complex.

"Sometimes with surface parking, is not the highest and best use, but when you do structured parking and then you put residential living on top of that, its just a great great infill development," Rhorer said.

The complex is a part of a bigger urban development plan that includes updated sidewalks, bike lanes and new parking technology that will allow drivers to find spots on their phones.