New Orleans Development Thread

[sgray]

477 million Nolatown moving forward at Lincoln Beach. This is a big deal for the lakefront. This is the project that councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis was miffed about because she wasn't in the loop. There were some preliminary renderings that were most impressive. I'll try to find 'em.

[sgray]

Here's the preliminary Nolatown renderings.

[staroftheshow86]

I'm wondering if anybody knows anything about this? It looks amazing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/arts/des...amp;oref=slogin

for the slideshow, click here http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/08/2...SHOW_index.html

[TSmith]

There was something about this a few pages back. Apparently, someone is planning to build a condo tower in central city! Now...THAT would be interesting.

Speaking of condo towers, what is going on with TRACAGE?

They have a pile driver on site. I'd think they're about to start construction.

[NCB]

^That is excellent news! I can't wait to see Tracage get off the ground.

[JPKneworleans]

I'm wondering if anybody knows anything about this? It looks amazing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/arts/des...amp;oref=slogin

for the slideshow, click here http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/08/2...SHOW_index.html

Those are renderings of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The former owner of the Hyatt tried to get the project started as a way to build interest in the area. New Orleans and Louisiana politicians, being buffoonish and who never realize the potential of something great, ignored the idea. Thus, the Hyatt was sold, but the former owner has donated the plans to the museum foundation in the hope that it will, one day, be built.

[nola17]

The old UNO Technology Center Downtown is slated to be renovated into an office building to cater to the future medical district. The plans for the medical district has already spawned the construction of 3 apartment building along the depressed Tulane Ave. corridor and now this. Once all the pieces are in place (The New Orleans BioInnovation Center, The Louisiana Cancer Research Center, LSU and VA Hospitals) just imagine the investment that will happen in this area.

Not to mention plans for the theater district and new justice complex in mid-city. This could be the big post-katrina boom we've been waiting for.

[blackcoat]

Speaking of which, here is the Times-Picayune article discussing the three new residential complexes in the Tulane Ave. corridor.

--------------

Staroftheshow, the New York Times article and slideshow are dealing with two large and ambitious projects: The National Jazz Center, and the Reinventing the Crescent project. However, since their publication 4 months ago, a few things have changed...

Laurence Geller, CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts (former owners of The Hyatt Regency near The Superdome) announced his plans in May 2006 for the National Jazz Center. The plan involved a raised park covering six blocks downtown from Tulane Ave. to the Hyatt, an area currently occupied by government buildings. The park itself was to including various museum elements, practice spaces, a small 300-seat venue, and a centerpiece theatre, all designed by Thom Mayne. Under the park at street level, there would be restaurants, shops, a grocery store, a movie theatre, a parking garage, and a tunnel for Poydras Street. The government buildings (City Hall, Civil District Court, old Supreme Court building, old state building, etc.) would be moved into the vacant Dominion Tower. Unfortunately, there was little progress over the course of the year, and less than 2 weeks after the publication of the article in the New York Times, Judah Hertz (CEO of the Hertz Investment Group, the owner of Dominion Tower) went on record saying that his negotiations ended with Geller in July '07 and that he was looking for another buyer for the tower (the comments from realtor Mike Siegel of Corporate Realty are particularly revealing). This should not have come as a surprise though, as nearly a year before, the New York Times reported that Geller accussed Hertz of endangering the whole project because he wanted an unreasonable amount of money for Dominion Tower. Later in October, Geller announced that he was selling the Hyatt, effectively bringing his plans for the park to a close. The sale of the Hyatt was finalized late last week, and plans themselves have been donated to the National Jazz Park foundation in the hope that someone else will complete the project.

Reinventing the Crescent is still going forward, and a final plan is to be released on an unannounced date in early 2008. However, this is still just a plan, and even the planners concede that it may take over a decade for the project to come to fruition. I don't have a wealth of material to write here, but if you want to learn more about the project, take a look at the Riverfront Vision 2005 and the PowerPoint presentation from the recent concept design and review meeting. I will report on it as I find out more, but so far, the most controversial aspect of the plan involves using the riverfront land for private residential development.

Edited January 15, 2008 by blackcoat

[Puddinhead]

Those are renderings of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The former owner of the Hyatt tried to get the project started as a way to build interest in the area. New Orleans and Louisiana politicians, being buffoonish and who never realize the potential of something great, ignored the idea. Thus, the Hyatt was sold, but the former owner has donated the plans to the museum foundation in the hope that it will, one day, be built.

Not exactly how it unfolded. The owner or the Hyatt and the city and state officials held a big press event to announce the new project...which was followed about a day later by the LA-based (I think) owner of the New Orleans Centre and Dominion Tower, Judah Hertz, saying that no one had approached him to inquire about the availability of his properties for the project. Seeing as those pieces of property were kind of the lynchpin of the whole deal, it seemed a little odd that such a big announcement would be made without someone at least gauging Hertz's interest...and to be frank, as you read more reporting on the topic I'm not sure I'm completely buying into his story that he wasn't even approached. More likely, to my mind, he didn't like the numbers that were being bandied around and thought he'd get a better deal if he let the project be announced and then would have public pressure on the developers to pay more for his property than was originally offered to see that the project went forward.

It was also not exactly clear what level of FEMA funding would be available for the government properties at Duncan Plaza (City Hall, State office building, etc.) if the area were to be redeveloped as the Jazz Museum and Park plans called for rather than being "replace in kind".

[blackcoat]

Puddinhead makes a very important point: the city and state did not let this one sail by them, and reading the articles supports that. Blanco and Nagin were part of the initial announcement and expressed a great amount of support for the jazz park. As was referenced in the Times Picayune article "Dominion Tower dropped from downtown project", it was the mayor's office that brought Hertz back to the table after negotiations between Hertz and Geller broke down in July '07.

Whether the city and state actions matched the strength of their rhetoric remains another story, but I am still unclear about the full extent of their efforts or involvement due to a lack of communication with the public, though there may have been various non-disclosure agreements that prevented much from being said about the deal. I speculate that FEMA would only reimburse the city if they kept their existing buildings, which made Mike Siegel's suggestion to purchase the building much harder to do without state help given the current standing of the city's finances. During a year in which Blanco was being thrashed for ICF's abyssmal management of the Road Home program and the state's lack of sufficient oversight and underestimation of the program's cost, it might have been hard for her to rally lawmakers to support the deal. Admittedly, this paragraph is pure speculation on my part, and I would love to hear from anyone who has more information about what actually transpired between Hertz, Geller, and the government (city, state, or federal).

I don't know what this means for the jazz park, but around the same time that Geller informed the public that he would be selling the Hyatt, the state-run Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District announced their intent to purchase Dominion Tower and the New Orleans Centre from Judah Hertz. Any word on this?

-----------------------------------------

In other development news, the NOPD headquarters are reopening today, Hancock Bank will open a new financial center (bigger than an ordinary branch?) in the CBD on Friday, and Pres Kabacoff will open a "healing center" in the Bywater.

Edited January 18, 2008 by blackcoat

[JPKneworleans]

I think that the particular rendering for the National Jazz Center was part of a redraft of the original plan once it was clear that the Dominion Tower was not going to be part of the deal. The plans for the building are now owned by the Jazz Center. I do hope it gets built.

On another note, it is my understanding that, at a meeting regarding Reinventing the Crescent, at which designs by pre-eminent firms such as TEN Arqitectos were presented in connection with the linear river park, Jackie Clarkson started complaining about the lack of "tradition" New Orleans buildings.

Edited January 18, 2008 by JPKneworleans

[NCB]

On another note, it is my understanding that, at a meeting regarding Reinventing the Crescent, at which designs by pre-eminent firms such as TEN Arqitectos were presented in connection with the linear river park, Jackie Clarkson started complaining about the lack of "tradition" New Orleans buildings.

I heard something about that as well, JPK. Apparently the idea of "new, modern, and cutting-edge designs" was too much for Jackie Clarkson to handle. I wonder if Chicago city leaders complained about "tradition" when Frank Gehry unveiled his plans for Millenium Park? Get a clue Jackie, because you can't move forward if you're always looking back.

[NCB]

This is a story that slipped through the cracks a few days ago, but is something that adds to the excitement of the development of a serious medical district around and along Tulane Ave. and Canal Street downtown.

Canal Street office building to be sold, renovated

Article

The project is one of several that have taken wing since Louisiana State University and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to build affiliated medical centers that would help restore patients, physicians and medical research to the downtown area.

Developers Matt Schwartz and Chris Papamichael of the Domain Companies are building several apartment buildings on or around Tulane Avenue to capitalize on the expected influx of medical students, nurses and other health professionals to the area. Both of them are young Tulane University graduates; Bruno, 27, is a former Tulane student who left the school as a junior.

This location is only two blocks from the LSU Medical Center and only 5 blocks from the Tulane Medical Center. Link

[JPKneworleans]

I heard something about that as well, JPK. Apparently the idea of "new, modern, and cutting-edge designs" was too much for Jackie Clarkson to handle. I wonder if Chicago city leaders complained about "tradition" when Frank Gehry unveiled his plans for Millenium Park? Get a clue Jackie, because you can't move forward if you're always looking back.

We should start an emailing campaign, and I'm serious. If Jackie were to have her way, New Orleans would become a huge parody of itself, to some extent, with its reliance on the tourism industry, and some of the buildings that have been built lately, it already has become a parody of itself.

[NCB]

If Jackie were to have her way, New Orleans would become a huge parody of itself, to some extent, with its reliance on the tourism industry, and some of the buildings that have been built lately, it already has become a parody of itself.

Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying, though that's something that has been going on for many years now. Like restaurants aimed at tourists with names like "New Orleans style seafood"....ya think? And seeing fake French Quarter architecture (hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it) all over the CBD. It's all aimed at tourists who, sadly, know absolutely nothing about the city they're visiting and expect to see wrought iron balconies and galleries all over the city and aligators roaming the city beside their french speaking, voodoo practicing, cajun owners.

It's something that you don't like seeing, but it's almost unavoidable when tourism plays such a big role in the local economy. You'll find the same type of stuff in Vegas, L.A., and even Chicago, which I saw firsthand.

[NCB]

This is something I stumbled upon on NOLA.com, and it's something that I really like seeing in the New Orleans area.

http://blog.nola.com/tpvideo/2008/01/bmx_b..._in_gretna.html

Projects like this, which bring kids and parents together, along with entire neighborhoods, are really positive for the New Orleans area. I checked the address of that BMX Park(800 Gretna Blvd.) on Google Maps, and two years ago, that location was just a vacant lot. We've got plenty of vacant lots all over the southshore, and it would be great to see many more of them turned into playgrounds, neighborhood parks, skate/BMX parks, recreation fields, etc. Any development, big or small, that is targeted towards families is a major positive for the area, IMO.

[djp4lsu]

On another note, it is my understanding that, at a meeting regarding Reinventing the Crescent, at which designs by pre-eminent firms such as TEN Arqitectos were presented in connection with the linear river park, Jackie Clarkson started complaining about the lack of "tradition" New Orleans buildings.

Here's a link to a brief story about that meeting: http://neworleanscitybusiness.wordpress.co...d-architecture/

[nola17]

GREAT NEWS!!! The New Orleans BioInnovation Center is set for construction this summer and already there are companies that are planning to migrate from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Also the renderings look amazing.

[sgray]

I couldn't get your link to the Bioinnovation building to work. Try this link. There's a lot of stuff being planned for that portion of Canal Street. The Krauss and Texaco buildings being converted to condos, the revitalization of the theaters, etc. However, something has got to be done about the homeless squalor at Canal and Claiborne. How were they ever allowed to camp out in front of City Hall in the first place? Now they're prominently on one of the main thoroughfares through downtown.

[nola17]

However, something has got to be done about the homeless squalor at Canal and Claiborne. How were they ever allowed to camp out in front of City Hall in the first place? Now they're prominently on one of the main thoroughfares through downtown

I know what u mean. For school I have to do a report on the homeless problem and the state of public housing. I wish the city would relocate these people into permanent housing, but truth be told there really is a lack of public housing in the city. I heard that estimates are that 12000 people are homeless in New Orleans.

I could of sworn that under the Bring New Orleans Back plan that they were suppose to eliminate the Claiborne overpass due to the fact that it has become a haven for the city's homeless. I hope that they either eliminate the highrise part over canal or that they find an alternative use for the it such as parking for the future medical facilities or something. Because as a tourist, I don't want to ride on a streetcar to city park from my Canal Street hotel and see dozens of homeless under the bridge.

Also, to aid in the redevelopment of upper Canal, the Iberville housing project needs to be replace. I was thinking that once the new housing developments are constructed that it could be converted into like a medical research park or something like the Pennington Medical Research Center in Baton Rouge.

[blackcoat]

nola17, there was a provision in the UNOP plan to study the removal of the stretch of I-10 between Highway 90 and the I-10/610 split near the Industrial Canal. As far as I know, no money has actually been appropriated for such a study. A mixed use, mixed income development has been proposed to replace Iberville, but I have not yet seen the details of what was proposed during the City Council hearing in December.

Like many problems plaguing the city, the state, and the country, we must go beyond the cosmetic to reach the heart of the issue, and once we are there, positive aggressive action must be continuously undertaken. Removing the overpass does not solve the homeless problem; it only puts it out of sight, forcing those homeless individuals to seek shelter under another overpass (and causes severe traffic issues too). Placing each of the individuals into public housing is a step in the right direction, but it does not address the root causes that led to that person being homeless in the first place...

Honestly though, I don't know what the answer is, but I'd love to help come up with a plan. I do believe that solutions to homelessness will involve reforms in education, job training, tax policy, welfare policy, affordable housing policy, and, to a lesser extent, land use and transit policies. But government and charitable groups can only do so much... even if we had the perfect program in place, what do we do with those people who refuse that help?? Once again, I don't have a good answer. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the subject, but until then, back to the topic of this thread...

[rcp11889]

I found a new Warehouse District project on City Business. It seems we have more apartments coming downtown.

Here's a link: http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/UpTo...cfm?recID=15111

I also read a couple days ago that Icinola is ready for construction soon in the Bywater.

[TSmith]

I found a new Warehouse District project on City Business. It seems we have more apartments coming downtown.

Here's a link: http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/UpTo...cfm?recID=15111

I also read a couple days ago that Icinola is ready for construction soon in the Bywater.

Wow the rents in that place are going to be outrageous.

[NCB]

Very exciting news about the New Orleans BioInnovation Center! I'm thinking that project deserves its own thread in the forum. Anyone else agree?

[nola17]

I think the entire New Orleans BioMedical District needs their own thread. There tremendous growth in store with the New Orleans BioInnovation Center, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, LSU and VA Hospitals, and the remediation of a Canal Street office building to be occupied by medical related businesses.

So who's going to start it???