NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[ardecila]

2' of dirt is not much. They'll probably put it just north of the parking lots. The little rise of the slope will be nice to sit on. It shouldn't affect the waterfront walkway and pavilions, although I'd love to see those ugly things replaced.

I'm more angry about the widespread removal of trees and bushes. WTF? Everybody knows that trees prevent erosion, and that a barren levee is ugly as f*ck.

I am happy about the leveetop path being rebuilt. It should be a little wider and have better striping/signage. I guess this means the city won't be improving Leake anytime soon.

Good news about the power substation. That's a beautiful building. It needs the weeds removed from the brick and the windows restored. It might be cool to build a wall behind the windows (like a shop window) and use them for displaying some kind of art at night. Neon sculptures would fit with the "electric" theme.

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

At The Fly, the levee is only being raised 2 feet, a small addition that will hardly be noticable in the end. In the FQ where the land is lower, if money weren't an option, I'd make the levee gradually rise between the water's edge to the train tracks, like it is at The Fly. It's already grass and trees, who'd notice a little more height. But a floodwall acts like a prison wall. It blocks views and tourists don't flock to New Orleans to see a concrete wall. Bridges like the one in the Bywater are nice, but then you have to walk to the nearest bridge to access the water view, unless you put 20 bridges in the FQ, which wouldn't be pretty either.

Gotcha, didn't know what I was thinking. No, that many bridges is not good for the FQ, but the fly has less pedestrians.

[Blitzen]

West End Master plan is out and has 2 site proposals which you can see at the NORPC's website: http://www.norpc.org/. You may also make public comments there.

The only difference I see between the proposals is whether to keep the lagoon or to turn it into more residential/commercial. In a city with literally thousands of acres of blight, I don't see the need to convert greenspace into development. I prefer Site Plan 2. We need density elsewhere. If you must develop greenspace, at the very least it should have been Coconut Beach's new location.

[IceCream]

Nothing too exciting here...just that the neighborhood association is fully on board with Reginelli's jumping across magazine. I posted a picture of the renovations a month or so ago....totally gutted and even most of the building is being rebuilt, roof, frame and all except for the frame on State and Magazine.

The one thing that KILLS me is how big a deal the neighborhood associations make of the alcohol permits...they aren't actually quoted in the article, but they talk about how good it is that there won't be an actual bar and that booze will only be served in a "sit down restaurant type context.'

WHAT THE HELL IS THE PROBLEM WITH ALCOHOL!?! THIS IS NOLA!!! THERE'S A BAR ON EVERY CORNER...

http://uptownmessenger.com/2012/08/a...ve-coverage-2/

[NOLAforME]

?

[NOLAforME]

Is there any new news on 1031 Canal.....or have I been AWOL for too long? Is it DOA or still a possibility?

[rcp11889]

More good news of renovations on OC Haley!

http://www.wwltv.com/news/Historic-O...165368506.html

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by NOLAforME

Is there any new news on 1031 Canal.....or have I been AWOL for too long? Is it DOA or still a possibility?

Wondering the same thing. Passed by early this morning and still a "for sale or lease" sign. I hope that thing gets built.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by annie himself

Gotcha, didn't know what I was thinking. No, that many bridges is not good for the FQ, but the fly has less pedestrians.

You just asked what the fly was. You still don't know what you're talking about; there are pedestrians all over it, but it's not in the same style.

[v-chop]

Bids on Former Bywater Base

Anybody have more information on the proposed projects? The film school sounds like a good idea.

[v-chop]

"With 9th Ward plans still in the works, Wendell Pierce's grocery business is planning to make its first foray into quenching New Orleans-area food deserts on the West Bank. The actor's Sterling Farms LLC is getting set to open its first store at Ames and Lapalco in Marrero. But first, they're giving away groceries. From 4-6 p.m. today, Pierce is giving away 500 bags of fresh produce to residents of that area. The Arena Football League, which is touching down in New Orleans this week for Friday's Arena Bowl, is cosponsoring the event. The bags will double as samples of what the store will offer." [NOLA Defender]

Wendell Pierce's Grocery Giveaway

Sounds like they haven't given up on building a grocery down there.

[Thomas Jefferson]

does the top image of the old naval redevelopment seem to be "mirror imaged" to anyone else? the geography seems all backwards.

i was hoping any new proposals would include removal of the 3 distasteful parking/sotrage structures. that area would provide a great view with a residential development to the same height of the existing towers.

also, nobody seems to be discussing the transportation corridor that would be needed from the cruise terminals to downtown lodging and entertainment. i am assuming st claude will be the main way in and out, but that area isn't exactly the city's best foot forward in terms of first and last impressions for tourists potentially coming on and off the boats there and travelling downtown. maybe some aesthetic improvements and street improvements should be considered to spruce the area up a bit.

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by Thomas Jefferson

does the top image of the old naval redevelopment seem to be "mirror imaged" to anyone else? the geography seems all backwards.

i was hoping any new proposals would include removal of the 3 distasteful parking/sotrage structures. that area would provide a great view with a residential development to the same height of the existing towers.

also, nobody seems to be discussing the transportation corridor that would be needed from the cruise terminals to downtown lodging and entertainment. i am assuming st claude will be the main way in and out, but that area isn't exactly the city's best foot forward in terms of first and last impressions for tourists potentially coming on and off the boats there and travelling downtown. maybe some aesthetic improvements and street improvements should be considered to spruce the area up a bit.

Yes, the top image must be mirrored. I also agree that transportation to the FQ/CBD must be part of any cruiseship development - whether that be down St. Claude, or just a continuation of the Riverfront Line (personally, I'd like both).

I also think that site could be something big and self-contained, like a resort space. It's somewhat isolated, and surrounded on 2 sides by water. It can still include apartments and a film school, but I think it should be a destination unto itself, especially if cruise ships will be docking nearby.

Another thing I don't understand is why the port insists on using this site as another cruise dock. It's just a bit too far from where people want to go. This is why 6-flags never worked. Also, I never see the dockspace along the Riverwalk/Convention Center completely full. With the new Riverwalk Outlet concept, I'd try to cram more ships there than in a single-family residential neighborhood. I think it'd even be cool if cruiseships parked along diagonal docks on the river to get more ships into the same amount of space (this is how riverboats used to park in the river a hundred years ago).

[Reverend_Cletus]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

Yes, the top image must be mirrored. I also agree that transportation to the FQ/CBD must be part of any cruiseship development - whether that be down St. Claude, or just a continuation of the Riverfront Line (personally, I'd like both).

I also think that site could be something big and self-contained, like a resort space. It's somewhat isolated, and surrounded on 2 sides by water. It can still include apartments and a film school, but I think it should be a destination unto itself, especially if cruise ships will be docking nearby.

Another thing I don't understand is why the port insists on using this site as another cruise dock. It's just a bit too far from where people want to go. This is why 6-flags never worked. Also, I never see the dockspace along the Riverwalk/Convention Center completely full. With the new Riverwalk Outlet concept, I'd try to cram more ships there than in a single-family residential neighborhood. I think it'd even be cool if cruiseships parked along diagonal docks on the river to get more ships into the same amount of space (this is how riverboats used to park in the river a hundred years ago).

Those were boats. These are massive ships. Also, on the old riverboats, these had a very swallow draft. On a cruise ship, the amount of hull from the waterline to the keel can make up half of the size. That's a ton of pressure.

That's not even counting the fact that the river pressure higher is higher than it would have been in the 1800s.

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

You just asked what the fly was. You still don't know what you're talking about; there are pedestrians all over it, but it's not in the same style.

I didn't know the name of it.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

Another thing I don't understand is why the port insists on using this site as another cruise dock. It's just a bit too far from where people want to go. This is why 6-flags never worked. Also, I never see the dockspace along the Riverwalk/Convention Center completely full. With the new Riverwalk Outlet concept, I'd try to cram more ships there than in a single-family residential neighborhood. I think it'd even be cool if cruiseships parked along diagonal docks on the river to get more ships into the same amount of space (this is how riverboats used to park in the river a hundred years ago).

Riverfront space is pretty scarce - it's all reserved for parkland or port purposes. ppppppp

If NORTA can get the streetcar across Press St, I'd like to see it go down Poland Avenue into the Navy site. It can't go across the canal until the bridge is rebuilt, and that can't happen until the locks are rebuilt. Streetcar to the L9 is not simply a problem that can be solved with more money, there's too many moving parts. The Navy yard seems like a good terminal for the line rather than the ugly/hostile intersection of St.Claude/Poland.

[rcp11889]

Not sure if anyone else cares about this kind of stuff but GNOCDC just release new information on the numbers of addresses in each neighborhood. I did the rough math and it seems that the 20 square mile core of the city (basically everything below 6-10 minus a few) has about 200,000 people with a density of 10,000 ppsm. That's over half the pop. of the city and the density is back to pre-katrina levels i believe.

http://www.gnocdc.org/NeighborhoodGr...tes/index.html

[IceCream]

http://uptownmessenger.com/2012/08/n...of-former-bar/

Thank goodness.... "Doors" bar or whatever sucked so bad. I know it was aimed at 18 year olds, but even when I was a freshmen at Loyola and it was Vera Cruz i think i still would have thought that Doors sucked. It was NEVER crowded.

[ardecila]

Doors made decent pizza. But we've got Mellow Mushroom coming, a new and improved Reginelli's Uptown, etc. No huge loss.

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Riverfront space is pretty scarce - it's all reserved for parkland or port purposes. ppppppp

If NORTA can get the streetcar across Press St, I'd like to see it go down Poland Avenue into the Navy site. It can't go across the canal until the bridge is rebuilt, and that can't happen until the locks are rebuilt. Streetcar to the L9 is not simply a problem that can be solved with more money, there's too many moving parts. The Navy yard seems like a good terminal for the line rather than the ugly/hostile intersection of St.Claude/Poland.

Would a St. Claude line to the 9th not work?