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Trump Tower New Orleans I don't know how accurate this is but it claims groundbreaking will be in July.

Bad news for the St. Raymond project. Construction pushed back at least six months. Apparently the New Orleans condo market is much less attractive than once thought when all of these high rise projects were being announced on a weekly basis. I hope Trump comes to fruition. The Trump Tampa project recently got cancelled and they had gotten a glowing letter from the Donald just as New Orleans did.

You'll recall that Jefferson was endorsed for re-election by our own Mayor Nagin. This may become somewhat counterbalanced if Bobby Jendal is elected governor. Some of my Indian friends, however, are skeptical of his chances. What say you?

I still don't have any idea what the First American Bank project is. Does anyone have a rendering or description. I've long awaited the coming of June as I thought it was to be when some of the big projects like Trump get started in earnest. I hope I'm not dissapointed. They have a sales office now at the St. Raymond construction site on Jefferson Hwy so I would think groundbreaking should be coming soon.

Do you have a description of the First American Bank project? I'm not familiar with it.

Has anyone heard any more on this project? I thought favorable financing was in place and construction would start soon yet no renderings have ever been released. 930 Poydras is a proposed 37-story new construction apartment building near the LL &E Building. The complex will contain 251 market-rate apartments, along with 509 parking spaces and 6000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The project will utilize a number of financing incentives including GO Zone bonds and New Market Tax Credits. Capital One Bank has agreed to buy the credits and sell the bonds, contingent on December 2006 approval of the project for the GO Zone bonds. If everything goes according to plan, construction should start in May 2007 and last for 18 months. Project Name 930 Poydras Address 930 Poydras Street Development Apartments Development Specifics: 37 Stories 251 apartments 135 1BR units (3 different floorplans) 116 2BR units (4 floorplans) Avg. Sq. Footage: 814 Average Rent: $1.84/SqFt 509 parking spaces 6000 SqFt ground-floor retail Project cost: $64 million Financing: $55 million GO Zone Bonds New Market Tax Credits Loan commitment from bank Timing: Construction 5/07-12/08

Practicing adding photos. I'll be in town this week. Will try to get something more relevent.

This is apparently the Lake Forest project, however, I'm becoming increasingly wary of the validity of these Bid Clerk postings. The posting of the start of the Plaza Tower project in April, that didn't happen, for example.

Decision on steel mill to come this coming Friday. This seems to be a close call. Hope it goes our way.

You'll find the maps in bid-clerk are not accurate, at least for non-subscribers.

What might this 300,000 sq. ft. corporate office building, already under construction, be?

1.2 million square foot Mid City project moving forward. Great neighborhood. Mandina's and Venezia's restaurants have come back. Robert's grocery, Canal at Carollton, will begin repairs in the next few months.

Here's the full article in City Business about Plaza Tower. Go down to "Plaza Tower developers go silent on deal". I thought this thing was going forward soon but it doesn't look likely.

I now see these maps are inaccurate, for non Bid-Clerk members anyway. They've got Trump Tower mapped out on Napoleon near St. Charles Ave.

Upon closer look at this Bid-Clerk posting, what I originally thought was the Royal Cosmopolitan project is, in fact, a property on Colliseum Square. Chech out the map. The description seems dead on for the French Quarter project but the map belies that. Maybe the maps aren't accurate.

Has anyone heard any news of the tower that's supposed to go up at 930 Poydras (corner of O'Keefe)? I had the impression they would break ground this Spring or Summer but they've yet to even release any renderings.

Looks like construction on Hotel Royal Cosmopolitan is to get started in July. Have any renderings been released yet? I would guess it's going to look a lot like Harrah's on Poydras.

Looks like construction is going forward on the St. Raymond project. Two 35 story towers just off South Causeway on Jefferson Highway. I believe the the developer had wanted to break ground in April but is allowing displaced businesses more time to relocate.

[font="Georgia"]The sign's still there saying "future site of bioinnovation center" the last time I passed by there a few days ago, but that's all.

La.'s final bid for steel mill didn't match company request. No indication that Alabama's bid did either.

Read City Business commentary on the proposed Lincoln Beach project and reaction by City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis.

Moving forward with the 300m WW II Museum expansion. It's just a few blocks from the Tracage project. The entire warehouse district is really being upgraded.

Here's more on the Lincoln Beach project. I now realize this is totally different and miles apart from the proposed 200m Nolatown project by the same people. I'd be surprised if either gets off the ground any time soon. I had previously opined in favor of tearing down the WTC but 160m is an enormous amount of money to put into that project. That's more than a third of the cost of Trump Tower and more than double the cost of the proposed 37 story building at 930 Poydras. Surely they'll do something impressive with that kind of money.

Here's more on the Lincoln Beach project. The developer has a pretty impressive resume including Lakeway 3 that was put up several years ago at the lake by the Causeway. They mention that there are detailed renderings of the Lincoln Beach project on their website but I couldn't find them. They also mention developements on Haynes Blvd. Lincoln Beach is at the end of Franklin Ave. isn't it?

It's in today's Times-Pic but I can't find a link. WTC to be redeveloped into 250 residences and a 130 room Renaissance Club Sport Hotel by Marriott. 160m project will develop an international cultural museum and the conversion of Spanish Plaza into a public entertainment area. I'm curious to see the renderings. Can they radically redesign the exterior as with the Crescent Tower project?