[alon504]

Looks like the City Planning Commission will take up the matter in 2 weeks after a deferrment to study traffic flow.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-19/116962261098400.xml&coll=1

[MattSal]

Is this still the current design:
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/163/496305an9.jpg

[skyscraperfan23]

This could save new orleans and bring it back to life.

[ajfroggie]

It's going to take a lot more than an 800-some-foot skyscraper to bring New Orleans back to life...

[skyscraperfan23]

It's going to take a lot more than an 800-some-foot skyscraper to bring New Orleans back to life...


But this is just the beginning.

[sgray]

Who says New Orleans is dead? There's a lot more going on here than Trump Tower. The Down Town, Up Town, and French Quarter look as good as ever. Plus, there are many other big projects, like Trump, that have been approved. New Orleans will be a jewel on an international scale sooner than you think.

[TSmith]

Yeah New Orleans is far from dead... this just illustrates that. It's only been about 500 days since Katrina. Things don't happen overnight.

That said, I'm just glad to finally have some confirmation on this project, and a start date.

[ajfroggie]

No offense, guys...but I just don't see massive skyscrapers as the keys to recovery. #1 part-and-parcel priority not just in New Orleans, but also on the Mississippi Coast, should be housing. How are people going to be able to work in all these gradiose locales if they can't find or afford a roof over their heads?

It's kinda related to the condos they're building in Biloxi and Gulfport. Yeah they're all fine and dandy, but not everyone can afford to live in them, especially since the vast bulk of houses lost to Katrina in those cities (and New Orleans too, for that matter) were lower and middle-class houses.

Sorry...I lost 90% of what I owned to Katrina, so it's a bit of a sore spot...

[urbanlife]

trumptastic!! yeah, just wanted to say that.

[TSmith]

No offense, guys...but I just don't see massive skyscrapers as the keys to recovery. #1 part-and-parcel priority not just in New Orleans, but also on the Mississippi Coast, should be housing. How are people going to be able to work in all these gradiose locales if they can't find or afford a roof over their heads?

It's kinda related to the condos they're building in Biloxi and Gulfport. Yeah they're all fine and dandy, but not everyone can afford to live in them, especially since the vast bulk of houses lost to Katrina in those cities (and New Orleans too, for that matter) were lower and middle-class houses.

Sorry...I lost 90% of what I owned to Katrina, so it's a bit of a sore spot...

I understand where you're coming from. But, part of this recovery has to include new investment. Not everything that was here before the storm will return. It is essential that we attract new investments... one of these new investments is Trump Tower. This project, when complete, will pump over $12,000,000.00 annually into the city's treasury. Believe me, we need it.

[skyscraperfan23]

I understand where you're coming from. But, part of this recovery has to include new investment. Not everything that was here before the storm will return. It is essential that we attract new investments... one of these new investments is Trump Tower. This project, when complete, will pump over $12,000,000.00 annually into the city's treasury. Believe me, we need it.

Absolutely, New Orleans will be rebuilt and rebult better than before and trump is leading to that project.

[LouisianaRush]

I love the new design. New Olreans' skyline will look fantastic with this new tower.

[Buck]

I don't like the base very much, but I'm sure it will look better in real life. The rest of the building will be stunning.

[ajfroggie]

TSmith: I agree that the city needs it. But what I'm concerned about, at least here on the Mississippi side, is that city officials and leaders are focusing on these grand-scheme plans, with little consideration being given to those who lost their homes and have little chance/opportunity to rebuild. As I mentioned before, these condos going up in Biloxi and Gulfport may be all fine and dandy, but most of those who lost homes....and heck, most of us on the Coast period....won't be able to afford these condos.

[alon504]

TSmith: I agree that the city needs it. But what I'm concerned about, at least here on the Mississippi side, is that city officials and leaders are focusing on these grand-scheme plans, with little consideration being given to those who lost their homes and have little chance/opportunity to rebuild. As I mentioned before, these condos going up in Biloxi and Gulfport may be all fine and dandy, but most of those who lost homes....and heck, most of us on the Coast period....won't be able to afford these condos.
It's a private development...any private developer can build any project he/she wants, as long as it is approved by local planning commissions. Private developers aren't responsible for building homes for those that flooded. Many are doing that, but, all of them don't have to do that..it's America, they can build what they want. I feel for those that flooded. Hell, my own parents lost their home and every single thing (on both floors). The house has been bulldozed. But, that has nothing to do with a developer building condos on the coast or in Downtown New Orleans. They aren't even related, IMO.

[TSmith]

TSmith: I agree that the city needs it. But what I'm concerned about, at least here on the Mississippi side, is that city officials and leaders are focusing on these grand-scheme plans, with little consideration being given to those who lost their homes and have little chance/opportunity to rebuild. As I mentioned before, these condos going up in Biloxi and Gulfport may be all fine and dandy, but most of those who lost homes....and heck, most of us on the Coast period....won't be able to afford these condos.
Alon summed it up pretty well. The help is coming for homeowners in this area, but it is just taking a looong time. Our "Road Home" program is a joke. Of about 90,000 homeowners awaiting financial assistance, only around 200... yes 200 have recieved money to repair their homes. And often, the money recieved is not nearly enough. Your concerns are being addressed, but it is just taking longer than it should. You can blame the company administering it(ICF) and the governor's office for that. The governor will pay with her job in Nov...... ICF? Who knows? They're just incompetent. But, it is being addressed.

[Plasticman]

By the way, the 842' is pleasantly shocking. I thought they were talking in terms of just over 700'.

Maybe they were talking about 700+ feet of actual building with a large stick on top of it to push the height up. If they're going to adorn the top and be legitimate about being able to include it in the height, they need to at least put some architecture into it. I have no problem with spires being part of the height but that thing just looks like an afterthought.

I'm not pleased with Atlanta's BOA but it did have some thought put into it (whether you like it or hate it).

BOA Charlotte has a very nice crown, Signature Nashville has the nicest crown I've ever seen, and even RSA Mobile's Battlehouse put some thought into the top.

The design is fantastic in my book but that stick on the top adds nothing but some ill-deserved feet.

[sgray]

http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/7646/trumpinternationaltower7uf.jpg

Here's the original design sans spire. I think I like it better. Regardless, it's going to be a stunning addition to the skyline. There's also a 38 story spire breaking ground just a couple of blocks down the street.

[austin356]

Where is the exact location?

In both renderings there appears to be a park across the street, but I also know that sometimes when renderings are being drawn, the artist will leave out any buildings that obstruct clear line of sight of the building.....

So my question is; is this one the park just to the south of 1 Shell?

[sgray]

I think the architect took artistic license. Lafayette Park is a couple of blocks away but from the depicted viewpoint you would actually be looking across 6 lane Poydras Street.

[StevenW]

Spire or no spire, this building looks amazing! :yes:
A wonderful addition to the city and it's skyline. :)

[TSmith]

I heard this week on the radio that some 60+% of these units have deposits. How is that possible? There must be a lot of out of town buyers. Anyone know?

[trainiac]

By the way, the 842' is pleasantly shocking. I thought they were talking in terms of just over 700'.

Nice looking building, but I was curious about the soil there.... how far down to bedrock?

[TSmith]

Nice looking building, but I was curious about the soil there.... how far down to bedrock?

New Orleans' bedrock is mostly clay, silt, sand, and some sedimentary rock. You begin to reach a solid foundation for scrapers about 70 feet beneath the surface, but pilings for a building the likes of Trump would likely reach double that depth... probably around 150 feet or so... maybe slightly less. Or, if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is driving the pilings... 15 feet.

[jowens]

This article was in the 2/18 addition of the Times Picayune.

Trump Tower moves ahead
Building would be tallest in Louisiana
Sunday, February 18, 2007
By Bruce Eggler
Staff writer
Although some New Orleanians still express skepticism that it will happen, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's body blow to the city's economy, one of the lead developers of the proposed 70-story Trump International Hotel & Tower on Poydras Street promised last week that the project is going to become reality.


With New Orleans City Planning Commission approval in hand, Florida developer Cliff Mowe said, "we don't see anything at this point" that could derail the construction of what would be Louisiana's tallest building.

The City Council still needs to approve the plans, but that is considered almost certain. With no opposition to the project having surfaced, Mowe said, council approval "should be pretty smooth."

Mowe said he hopes to break ground this summer, with construction expected to take 28 months, putting completion in late 2009. "We're very excited about moving forward," he said.

The 1.6-million-square-foot tower, estimated to cost about $400 million, would fill most of the largely vacant block bounded by Poydras, Camp, Natchez and Magazine streets. It would be 716 feet high, plus a 126-foot spire, and would contain 734 luxury condominium and hotel units and a 715-space garage.

Mowe said the developers want to shift "in the very near future" from taking reservations for the building's condos to signing sales contracts for them.


Traffic impact studied

The Planning Commission approved plans for the tower 6-0 last week, after getting the results of a traffic impact analysis from the developers. The commission had delayed voting on the project last month until the traffic study could be reviewed.

City planners said the staff of the Department of Public Works "agreed that the additional traffic generated by the proposed structure would not likely decrease the level of service on the surrounding streets below what is acceptable to the city."

New York real estate magnate Donald Trump announced on Aug. 25, 2005, that he would join a team of Florida developers in building a 70-story tower in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina hit four days later, but within two weeks Donald Trump Jr. said the developers would go ahead with the project.

Although financing has not been nailed down, "we will have no issues with financing," Mowe said last month. "There are several large lenders that want to do the deal," in part because of Trump's involvement, he said. That remains the case, he said last week.

No one spoke against the proposed tower at the Planning Commission's public hearing, and the planning staff said it thought the structure would "become a landmark for the city."

Edward Suffern, an attorney for the developers, said the Poydras site is ideal for the building that would replace One Shell Square as the city's tallest structure because the Poydras corridor is widely recognized as "the place to concentrate high-intensity developments."


No 13th floor

Although Trump Tower would have almost 20 stories more than any other office or hotel building in the city, it would be only about 20 feet taller than the 51-floor One Shell Square, which is 697 feet tall. The 52-story Place St. Charles rises about 650 feet.

The new building's first two floors would contain restaurants, retail space and a public arcade cutting through the building from Poydras to Natchez. Floors 3 through 15 would be used for parking. Vehicles would enter the garage from Camp and exit onto Magazine.

Because is planned with no 13th floor, the building would contain 69 floors but would be numbered through 70.

Floors 18 through 32 would be a condo hotel, or "condotel," offering 435 units -- 29 to a floor -- that would be sold as condos but could, when the owners agree, be rented out on a nightly basis like hotel rooms. Owners of the condotel units would get a percentage of the room revenue. The hotel's lobby would be on the 17th floor.

Above the condotel would be 299 conventional condos. Floors 39 through 56 would have two-bedroom units, with larger units on floors 58 and above. Pools, lounges and other amenities would be offered on floors 38 and 57.

Mowe said most of the condos are being offered for $575 to $675 a square foot, with many units selling for $390,000 to $500,000. Penthouse units on the top-most floors are going for $700 to $725 a square foot. Those units would be reached by private elevators that would bypass the hotel and smaller condo floors.


Zoning waivers needed

Although there is no overall height limit at the site, construction of the tower would require several waivers to city zoning laws. One would give the developers a waiver of the maximum permitted floor-area ratio, a measure of a building's total mass, from the allowed 14 to 17.2.

Another would let them build the portions of the building touching Camp and Magazine streets to a height of 85 feet, 35 feet higher than normally allowed.

The Planning Commission's staff recommended approval of the waivers, saying the project "will both complement and enhance the high-intensity urban environment in which it is proposed and will become a landmark for the city."

The tower site is in the Picayune Place local historic district, and there are two three-story historic buildings in the block, both on Natchez Street. One would be incorporated into the project and the other would be maintained as it is.

One of 15 provisos the Planning Commission attached to its approval would require the developers to get Historic District Landmarks Commission approval "for all exterior design components."

Suffern said the Landmarks Commission's staff is "comfortable" with the height and mass of the proposed tower but has requested some changes in the design of the lower floors.

Plans for a $220 million, 1,200-room hotel on the same Poydras Street site won Planning Commission approval in 2000, but developer Larry Sisung abandoned the project in early 2001.

Although some other developers and business leaders warned last year that the layoff of most Planning Commission staff members after Katrina was delaying the commission's review of Trump Tower and other major projects so severely that they might die, Mowe said he and his colleagues never complained about delays at the commission. "We knew they were short-handed," he said.

Despite sharp increases in construction costs after Katrina, Mowe said, "we are trying to make this a reasonably priced project," although the $120 million price tag announced in 2005 has more than tripled. He said a $400 million estimate "is in the ballpark."

"We still feel that for the clientele we're trying to sell to, it will be very affordable, and certainly affordable compared to other Trump projects" in cities such as Chicago, New York, Las Vegas and Miami, he said. Mowe was not involved in building those towers.

. . . . . . .

Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3320.

[richyb83]

What a fantastic addition to the skyline in the heart of the CBD. This only verifies New Orleans as an international player.

The RSA Tower in Moblie is great; but that spire is a little over-done IMO.esp. with the spire making up 1/3 of the total height.

You aint lyin'..the Atlanta BOA's spire is hideous. Constructing a caged Tee-Pee with a giant metal pencil on top should not constitute it as the "Souths Tallest" ; taller than Houston's massive 1,008'ft. skyscraper with no spire.

[NFO]

There's so much room for hi-rise developement in that town. I can imagine a lot of tall condos going up in that warehouse district.

Any addition to that staid '70's skyline will add energy though. Too bad it's not more towards Julia street and that river mall.

[Plasticman]

What a fantastic addition to the skyline in the heart of the CBD. This only verifies New Orleans as an international player.

The RSA Tower in Moblie is great; but that spire is a little over-done IMO.esp. with the spire making up 1/3 of the total height.

You aint lyin'..the Atlanta BOA's spire is hideous. Constructing a caged Tee-Pee with a giant metal pencil on top should not constitute it as the "Souths Tallest" ; taller than Houston's massive 1,008'ft. skyscraper with no spire.

I agree I don't like BOA spire but I hardly call it hideous. Just unfinished looking. At night it is fanstastic though. Plus it doesn't make up that much of the height. Houston's tallest is certainly beefy all the way to the roof but somewhat boring. I guess it's all in what you like.

But I still have to say of all spired proposals, Nashville's Sig Tower is way ahead of the pack.

The Trump Tower for NO is a fantastic tower but they either need to design a real spire or drop that stick from part of the height.

[skyscraperfan23]

I Truly Hope trump can bring new orleans back from extinction, after the hurricane katrina disaster.

[alon504]

No offense, guys...but I just don't see massive skyscrapers as the keys to recovery. #1 part-and-parcel priority not just in New Orleans, but also on the Mississippi Coast, should be housing. How are people going to be able to work in all these gradiose locales if they can't find or afford a roof over their heads?

It's kinda related to the condos they're building in Biloxi and Gulfport. Yeah they're all fine and dandy, but not everyone can afford to live in them, especially since the vast bulk of houses lost to Katrina in those cities (and New Orleans too, for that matter) were lower and middle-class houses.

Sorry...I lost 90% of what I owned to Katrina, so it's a bit of a sore spot...

ajfroggie, it's time that you jumped on the bandwagon. I'm very sorry that you lost alot in the storm. Alot of people did, including many of my friends and family. With that said, if you are coming back, you should join in..you are being left in the dust. Something happened at the 18 month mark...people are flocking back, the recovery is truly escalating, and what we have all waited for is truly starting to snowball now. Good luck to ya in the "far-out," suburb of Picayune. I have relatives that live in Carriere and commute to the city every day. It's not that bad of a drive. But, it's a little too far for me....

[LouisianaRush]

Trump Tower clears final hurdle

New Orleans Times Picayune
By Bruce Eggler
Staff writer

Clearing its last regulatory hurdle, plans for the 70-story Trump International Hotel & Tower on Poydras Street won unanimous approval Thursday from the New Orleans City Council.

The 1.6-million-square-foot tower, estimated to cost about $400 million, would fill most of the largely vacant block bounded by Poydras, Camp, Natchez and Magazine streets. It would be 716 feet high, plus a 126-foot spire, and would contain 734 luxury condominium and hotel units and a 715-space garage.

Florida developer Cliff Mowe said he hopes to break ground this summer on what would be Louisiana’s tallest building. Construction is expected to take 28 months, putting completion in late 2009.

New York real estate magnate Donald Trump announced on Aug. 25, 2005, that he would join a team of Florida developers in building a 70-story tower in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina hit four days later, but within two weeks Donald Trump Jr. said the developers would go ahead with the project.

Although financing has not been nailed down, Mowe has said several large lenders are interested in the project, in part because of Trump’s involvement.

No one spoke against the proposed tower at the council meeting. The plans were approved 5-0 on the recommendation of Councilwoman Stacy Head, whose district includes the site. “This is Trump,” Head told her colleagues in asking for approval. “Woo-hoo.”

Although Trump Tower would have almost 20 stories more than any other office or hotel building in the city, it would be only about 20 feet taller than the 51-floor One Shell Square, which is 697 feet tall. The 52-story Place St. Charles rises about 650 feet.

The new building’s first two floors would contain restaurants, retail space and a public arcade cutting through the building from Poydras to Natchez. Floors 3 through 15 would be used for parking. Vehicles would enter the garage from Camp and exit onto Magazine. Because it is planned with no 13th floor, the building would contain 69 floors but would be numbered through 70.

Floors 18 through 32 would be a condo hotel, or “condotel,” offering 435 units — 29 to a floor — that would be sold as condos but could, when the owners agree, be rented out on a nightly basis like hotel rooms. Owners of the condotel units would get a percentage of the room revenue. The hotel’s lobby would be on the 17th floor.

Above the condotel would be 299 conventional condos, with two-bedroom units on lower floors and larger units on floors 58 and above.

Mowe said most of the condos are being offered for $575 to $675 a square foot, with many units selling for $390,000 to $500,000. Penthouse units on the topmost floors are going for $700 to $725 a square foot.

Mowe said anyone interested in buying a condo in the building should call (888) 598-7867.

Although there is no height limit at the site, construction of the tower requires several waivers to city zoning laws, which the council approved. One gives the developers a waiver of the maximum permitted floor-area ratio, a measure of the building’s total mass, from the normally allowed 14 to 17.2.

Another will let them build the portions of the building touching Camp and Magazine streets to a height of 85 feet, 35 feet higher than normally allowed.

The City Planning Commission recommended approval of the waivers, saying the project “will both complement and enhance the high-intensity urban environment in which it is proposed and will become a landmark for the city.”

The tower site is in the Picayune Place local historic district, and there are two three-story historic buildings in the block, both on Natchez Street. They are to be retained and redeveloped later.

Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3320.