Old rice mill in Abbeville could become historic-looking hotel

In the next couple of years, Abbeville is expected to see the opening of a historic-looking hotel and a spacious 10,000-square-foot indoor venue connected to the hotel that can be used for weddings and concerts.
At Wednesday’s Abbeville Rotary Club meeting, Brad Colgin, owner of The Colgin Companies LLC in Lafayette, informed Rotarians on the gameplan for the old Riviana Rice Mill in Abbeville.
In December of 2023, Earl “Boo” Landry of Erath purchased the rice mill from Riviana and named it “Rice Quarter LLC.”
Since then, Landry has hired contractors to remove the asbestos from the rice mill along First Street. Other than that, there has been little movement at the closed rice mill.
At the Wednesday Rotary meeting, Colgin said that is about to change.
Colgin’s company purchases old mills throughout the United States, tears them down, and sells the metal, lumber and other equipment it can salvage.
He was introduced to Landry, and the two began working together to determine the best way to utilize the rice mill buildings and 16 acres of land on which they sit.

Colgin told the Rotary Club that work would soon begin on redoing the roof of the old packing plant building, which is located on the west side next to the Vermilion River.
The back section of the packing plant is a four-story building that was once a rice mill that opened around 1900.
By 2027, the four-story building will be converted into a hotel with balconies overlooking the Vermilion River. The front of the hotel will have a 10,000-square-foot, two-story venue that could be used for weddings and indoor concerts.
Each hotel floor will have rooms around 500 square feet in size with 13-foot high ceilings.
“They are big rooms,” Colgin said.
Clogin mentioned plans to develop a New Orleans-style outdoor space around the two oak trees. The courtyard will be spacious enough to accommodate 500 chairs and can be rented for weddings, parties, or concerts.
He said the historic-looking hotel and the large indoor and outdoor venues will be one of a kind.
“This will be like no place in Acadiana and Louisiana like this,” said Colgin.

Next to the hotel is a 30,000-square-foot blue metallic building that will remain intact. The plan is to use that building as a covered parking area for the hotel, with First Street as an entrance into the parking area.
Colgin closed the meeting by answering a question that many Rotarians may have been thinking about — how will Abbeville support the hotel and the indoor/outdoor venues?
“We are not counting on Abbeville to support a venture like this,” he said. “This is a destination location. This is also not just an Acadiana deal or a state deal. We are going to hire a marketing team to drive traffic. The venues in this place are going to be spectacular.”
While contractors are developing the hotel and indoor and outdoor venues, other contractors will be removing all of the tanks, storage bins and the old electrical plant next to the Vermilion River.
When all of that is removed, it will create parking for guests staying in the hotel.
Colgin did not touch on the future plans for the closed Riviana Rice Mill on the east side. He said the goal is first to get the hotel and venues up and running before they begin tackling the east side of the rice mill.