I agree with everything you said. Great execution and the temporary nature of the way its set up is perfect because that way these businesses dont need to be supported outside of game days. Shade us the only issue as I was melting, but its August and thats just the way it is!Does anyone know how the Hyatt will/if connect to the square?

Plaza Tower
 

I see there's a "For Sale" at the Plaza Tower. Doesn't seem to bode well for any quick transformation of that property.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...ed=0CDUQsAQwBA

Timelaspe/Construction Cam of Concourse D expansion.
http://www.oxblue.com/pro/open/mcdonnel

Plaza Tower
 

There's a "for sale" at the Plaza Tower site now. I thought once they removed the asbestos the developement would move forward. Guess not soon anyway.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...ed=0CDUQsAQwBA

I just saw it and it was a welcomed sight. Pinkberry just opened a 2nd location across from Harrahs. Hopefully there will be more to come.

Would New Orleans could bid for the Pan American Games in 2019???

I thought that was the original plan for the Plaza Tower. The company that bought it was going to gut it out and then sell it to a developer.

Looks like the city will be using the leverage it has in closing streets, to demand much less surface parking at the new LSU hospital and a more retail on Tulane and Canal. Thats all that is needed to make the proposal look great. Its amazing the difference between the VA which is embracing modern urban design and the LSU teaching hospital which is about as a suburban as a Wal Mart with its sea of parking. Lets hope the city can get these concessions out of the board and create a great urban teaching hospital.

Heres a link to some great renderings of the VA hospital under construction.

http://www.neworleans.va.gov/Legacy_Renderings.asp

Yes that's my understanding of the situation too. The guys who rehabilitated the building were always going to sell it after they were finished.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...aza_tower.html

Hell yea. Mitch is turning out to be way better than I expected... I campaigned for James Perry, but Mitch seems to be doing all the right things. It's not even that complicated - other cities' mayors have no problem with basic urban planning principles. Even Da Mare in Chicago can grasp why things like street closures are a bad idea, but Nagin just couldn't give a crap.

Glad to see we're getting some competence in City Hall, finally.

This looks good. They essentially want to act as chef-consultants to help hotels or existing restaurants revamp their concept, and they plan on doing it here in New Orleans.

What I like about their approach is it relies less on the celebrity of the chef whose name is on the marquee and more on finding new talent to create the concept. This avoids the pitfalls of a guy like Emeril who has restaurants all over the country. Quality control suffers inevitably. Consulting is a better way to avoid the pitfalls of restaurants being to persona driven.

Market Street Power Plant developement
 

It'll be interesting to see what they turn this eyesore into.

http://www.nola.com/business/index.s...e_between.html

I'm very curious to know who this major anchor that they keep referring to is...

World War II Museum's $35 million Freedom Pavilion to be formally announced Friday

A flock of warbirds will be the stars of the latest expansion of the National World War II Museum.

Construction of the $35 million U.S. Freedom Pavilion: Land, Sea and Air will be formally announced Friday as part of the museum's overall $300 million expansion.

The pavilion will be financed by a $20 million grant through the Department of Defense and $15 million given by the Boeing Co.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2...35_millio.html

http://www.sdsgroup.com/images/proje...m-pavilion.jpg

I really think this museum will be world-class once all the expansions complete.

Well, at least it's not a casino. The newest article said it was a retail tenant. Ullian claimed in 2007 that his signing of Target was the key to luring other retailers to the "Midtown Miami" district. It's possible/likely that Target is the anchor here as well. Wal-Mart already proved that people will drive from all over the city to shop in the Lower Garden District.

"Place St. Charles" - the now-defunct plan from Giannasca. (Terrible name, btw... it's nowhere near St. Charles) I don't think they own nearly this much land... it's just long-term planning.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/6...harles01lg.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5...harles02lg.jpg

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3...entergy1lg.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/6...entergy2lg.jpg

The Iberville may be coming down.
Iberville redevelopment quietly gets underway

Damn, the good news just keeps coming. The LSU hospital is facing significant pressure for a re-design, the city wants to get moving on Crescent Park and the Lafitte Corridor ASAP, Market Street is moving out of a legal morass, and now the single biggest obstacle to downtown redevelopment has an RFP.

:righton: