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I just found out about a project called L.A. Live in Los Angeles, across from the Staples Center. It will have several restaurants, a museum, theater, hotel and condos, and an ESPN Zone. I wonder if something like this is what the state has in mind for the old New Orleans Centre and Dominion Tower. This is, of course, assuming the project ever actually happens...

Whether it's the Victory project or Carrollton Shopping center, or anywhere else nearby, I'm just ready for places to get what you need that are actually in the City. I am tired of driving to Jefferson parish to buy stuff. Hopefully at least one of these projects will actually be built soon.

Yep, there's a tall yellow crane. Saw it on the way to the Saints game on Monday night. Looks like they are going to start putting up steel soon. I don't know about a transfer though, but it doesn't seem to have interrupted construction.

There's a good article in the Citybusiness about the airport today. Looks like there's a lot of good plans in the works to make some substantial improvements. I knew they were planning on renovating, but some of these plans sound a lot more extensive that just updating: "Hunter

Citybusiness has an article about the state of the planned skyscrapers in the area. Not exactly optimistic, particularly for right now as the economy isn't so hot. But it includes some sliver lining as well. I don't guess much of this is a surprise to many of us here, but the article gives some updates to some of the planned projects in the area.

Good article about Central City redevelopment in the City Business. Awhile back, there was a mention of a project going up in Central City, but no other info on it. This article mentions a $50 million project going up on the corner of Felicity and Carondelet. Maybe this is the one from awhile back? It would be great to see this area revitalized. The proximity to downtown would, I think, make it attractive to people who frequent downtown, a lot like the Tulane Ave corridor is becoming. Hopefully some of the problems can be worked out though.

I had heard awhile back that someone was planning to put a grocery store in the former Sewell building. I wonder if that project is still moving forward? I agree, any improvement is greatly appreciated.

Trump is still supposed to be 70 stories isn't it?

Citybusiness says the Federal City deal has been finalized, and construction has to start before Sept. 30. Good to see some movement there.

The T-P is running a story today on the mysterious 930 Poydras project. It doesn't sound like there's a lot that we didn't already know, but it is nice to see that the project is starting to get some coverage. "The building will have 250 apartments, including 146 one-bedroom units, 99 two-bedroom units and five townhouses that will be built beside a pool and outdoor terrace. All of the units will rent at market rates, starting at $1,175 per month for the smallest apartments and running to $1,900 per month for the townhouses."

Thanks! They were definitely driving piles on the site. I'm glad to see it's finally getting going, and when they said they would!

Does anyone know about the status of the Bioinnovation center? I drove by today, and it looks like there's work going on there. I was surprised, since I thought it was on hold or something...

I wonder if turning the New Orleans Centre into a great big sports mall would work? Maybe put some restaurants/bars in it, some sporting goods stores, museums, etc? The ESPN Zone idea would be good too. ESPN Zone would be a draw all year long, and would likely pull a lot of tourists from the Quarter to the Dome area. If anyone has been to Wrigley Field in Chicago, there's a ton of small bars/restaurants around the area that really make a huge contribution to the atmosphere surrounding the park. I'd love to see things like that pop up also, a lot like what the Fulton Street area is becoming. Hopefully similar places will spring up down Poydras to bridge the gap between the Riverfront and the Dome area, if there's something to draw people up that way. I've always lamented the fact that Zephyr Field wasn't built downtown. It would have been great down there. Maybe they could put like an off-field Zephyrs watching place so baseball fans could watch the Z's in a good downtown atmosphere? I don't know of any team that's ever done anything like that before, but race tracks do it, so maybe it would work?

Haven't they been saying that this project is going to start since like the beginning of the year?

I think someone mentioned before that there's a gray panel on the back of the old Civic Theater building next door to 930 Poydras that looks similar to the material covering the building in the picture above. There was some speculation that this panel might be a test of what the new building might be made of. So, even if the building isn't this shape, it might look the same. I walk by all the time, and I'll try to get a picture of the panel next time I go by, just to get an idea. But, it might be just an educated guess.

Make it three! There's so many other great restaurants in this city that didn't pack up and leave us hanging after such a long history here. And, didn't they move their HQ to Orlando?? Like hurricanes won't hit there too?? I thought the quality of the restaurant had been going down before the storm anyway.

If you were looking forward to not having to drive to Jefferson Parish for pretty much everything, and keeping sales tax money in New Orleans, you might be out of luck, at least for awhile. The Victory Real Estate plan for Mid-City seems to be fading out.

Maybe you might have seen the 927Poeyfarre building? I passed by it on the way to the Convention Center the other day, and I saw there's a white crane there, and they are starting putting up steel on it. I had heard somewhere where Tracage was held up by a lawsuit, but it may have settled by now.

thanks for the info about the Customs House. I wasn't sure if it was even used for anything anymore, and i'd hate to see such a nice building sitting unused.

Slow news in the development world around here lately, but the TP had an article about the Audubon Insectarium, which is opening June 13 in the Customs House downtown. It's only going to be in part of the first floor of the building, but I was wondering if anyone knew what the rest of the building is used for? I was surfing around trying to find out, but I couldn't find much about it past about the 1930's or so.

Citybusiness had an article today about the opening of the Trump Tower sales center, which apparently officially opened today. Bigger news, though, is that the plans are changing, and they are cutting out about half of the hotel units. The article didn't mention whether the changes would affect the height of the building though, ad I hope they don't.

There's another apartment project in the Warehouse district. The developers are turning a parking garage into an apartment building. It sounds like an interesting idea. Some of the architectural features remind me of apartments in Tokyo, with removable walls and curtains, and some solar panels to generate electricity.

News about a new shopping center on the Northshore: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05...ng_complex.html. Sounds like a good project, particularly the Dick's Sporting Goods! I've been to a few of those stores in other places, and it's a fantastic sporting goods store. The Northshore is really growing. Also, on another note, I'm glad to see some construction downtown with the 930 Poydras project, but I'm also not a fan of the architecture. It just looks like a glass box (if that's glass it's made of). But, to be fair, I'm not a big fan of modern architecture in general. This used to be state of the art modern architecture too.

I saw a streetcar going down Carrollton this afternoon while I was eating lunch. It wasn't in service, but it's a good sign that it won't be long.

This article was in Citybusiness today about the St. Raymond: http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/upto...cfm?recid=16956. Looks like the project is still going to be built, though some of the condo buyers are getting a little restless. Also, the developers have made some changes to the project. I was wondering about the status of the project after they started leasing out some of the shopping center along Maine Street that they had closed, and they took the big sign down. But, it looks like it's still on for now.