BATON ROUGE - The Hotel Lincoln, once known to play host to Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Nat King Cole, has been in decay for years. Nearly two years ago local developers purchased the building and the process leading up to renovation is well on its way.

"We'll start breaking ground by the end of the year," co-developer, Solomon Carter said. "Then we're looking at an eight to tenth-month construction process.

The approval process for state and national tax credits should be wrapped up in the coming weeks. After that, the redesign plans will be sent to the city for permitting. But even before any work on the building starts there is already interest.

"It's amazing, we haven't even started construction yet and we've already gotten leases almost signed," Solomon said. A restaurant and salon are already in discussion about renting space.

Carter plans to keep a lot of the site's historical touches intact. The actual brick building will be spruced up but is sticking around. A lot of the inside structure is also being salvaged.

"If you were to leave in the '50s and come back in 2020 and you walk out of the elevator it'll hopefully feel like the same that it was," Carter said.

With construction on the horizon and space already being leased, Carter is confident the iconic building can become a great addition to growth in Mid City.

"Businesses that are looking to move in really want to honor the history of this space and have ties to the community and the neighborhood," Carter said.