NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[typo86]

Gentilly Resiliency District goes against flow of how New Orleans handles stormwater







A $141 million grant the federal government awarded New Orleans last week will allow the city to tackle one of its most ambitious infrastructure projects since a network of drainage canals and pumping stations were built to turn its sub-sea level swampland into sprawling suburban-style neighborhoods decades ago.

The projects in the Gentilly Resiliency District are very different than the traditional methods of flood control. They are designed to retain and control the water that previously had been kept behind levees and floodwalls. And that presents perhaps the toughest task for the city: convincing generations of residents who have been told it's important to get the water out that they should now keep it in...

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...istrict_g.html

Why was Gentilly, and not another neighborhood, chosen for a resiliency district?
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...not_anoth.html

[BbroZX286]

Long time watcher first time poster. I appreciate everyone who contributes to the blog its nice to be able to keep up with the developments going on in the city. I just had a kind of random question to ask which may not even really have an answer. Why dont you all think building owners especially in the mist of the explosion of apartments downtown convert the upper floors of their buildings into apartments?

[ap111]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Any word on where the Farmers Market will move to? Maybe Lafayette Square or they could block off Julia St.

The DDD wants to revamp Lafayette Square to better handle the higher usage its been getting--concerts, markets, etc. and some of those include semi permenant market stalls. There's also plenty of parking lots left on Magazine towards St. Joseph that might work. I'm sure they'll come up with a good solution between now and whenever they start construction.

[ap111]

Originally Posted by BbroZX286

Why dont you all think building owners especially in the mist of the explosion of apartments downtown convert the upper floors of their buildings into apartments?

Can't speak for all owners, but I think that the amount of work required to convert them to residental is too high for most owners. It's much easier when the whole building is renovated and they can put in new drain lines and HVAC systems.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by ap111

Can't speak for all owners, but I think that the amount of work required to convert them to residental is too high for most owners. It's much easier when the whole building is renovated and they can put in new drain lines and HVAC systems.

The main reason is fire code and ada accessibility not to mention cost to install sprinkler systems. Often too hard to make it finanically feasible, hence the effort to get some of these smaller buildings (particularly along Canal) to work with eachother. That said its definitely starting to happen more.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Any word on where the Farmers Market will move to? Maybe Lafayette Square or they could block off Julia St.

Lafayette Square, Dunca Plaza or the surface parking or rooftop at Rouses would be neat places to have the market. Does anyone know what they paid to use that lot? or was it free ?

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by prokowave

Under Construction:
Hotel:
Rault Building: 185 hotel rooms
Moxy Hotel Conversion
NOPSI Building - 217 room hotel
SMD Ace Hotel: 234 rooms
317 North Rampart Street Homewood Suites: ~200 rooms
Cambria Suites - 162 rooms
Audubon Hotel - 30 rooms
FQ hotel renovation- 80 rooms

Residential:
925 Common St. Apartments, Phase 2: ~100 units
Beacon at South Market District- 114 apartments
Oak St. Condos: 20 units
Freret St. Condos: 30 units
California Building (Elk Place) -155 apartments
Factors Row: 49 apartment units and 10,000 sf retail
Iberville Redevelopment
1031 Canal: 240 units residential
Pythian Building on Loyola - 69 units+ 40,000 sf retail

Combo/Other:
MSY/New Orleans International Airport North Terminal
Jung Hotel Renovation: 175 apt + 145 hotel
GNO Foundation Office Building
Garage on Poydras/Dave and Buster’s+ retail
WW2 Museum Garage, offices and hotel
Garage on Perdido/O’Keefe (behind First Bank and Trust Building)


Proposed/Planning:
Hotel:
Virgin Hotel: 183 rooms
WTC Four Seasons: 350 Rooms + 76 res units
Moxy Hotel on St. Charles Ave.
Hotel Loren on Canal Street: 122 rooms
Oil and Gas Building: Canopy Hotel by Hilton: 182 rooms
UNO Technology Building: 105 Towneplace + 78 Springhill Suites
Governor’s House Hotel
Royal Cosmopolitan Hotel
Union Street Hotel

Residential:
Standard at South Market District - 89 apmt
Jackson Ave. Hospital Reno: 211 units
Parkway Apartments: ~200 units
Vaucresson Factory Site - 53 residential units
1581 Magazine Street - 36 Units
1476 Magazine St. Apartments
Granaio - 18 units
Via Latrobe in the Bywater - 260 units + 23k sf commercial
3200 Chartres Condos: 16 units
3220 Chartres Condos: 12 units
Former Hubig’s site- 8 units
Holy Cross Re-development
Turnbull Bakeries - 15 homes in Irish Channel
Banks St. Condos: 17 units
Sidney Torres Bayou St. John Development
923 Julia St. - 30 condo units
Condo development - corner of Julia and O’Keefe
Maestri Condos on St. Charles Ave.
1551 Canal St.: approx. 320 apartments
710 Baronne - 20 apartments
2223 Carondelet - 18 condos
731 St. Charles - 72 units
Magazine St. Reilly Foods Reno/New construction - 90 units +347 parking spaces + 27k sf retail

Combo/Other:
Port Marigny (Mandeville) 429 residential units + 120 unit hotel + 60k sq. ft. commercial
Federal City Redevelopment: 1600 residential units + hotel + 356,000 sq. ft. of office and commercial
Trade District: Convention Center Mixed-Use Development

Thanks for this running list... very helpful and informative. Some updates or additions I noticed:

Under construction:

939 Iberville Apartments (maison blanche annex ...77 units)

The Jung (50,000 square feet of retail and 480 parking spaces)

1031 Canal (60,000 square feet of retail)

Rault Building will be Joie De Vivre

Smaller building on other side of surface parking lot that is part of the French Quarter Hotel renovation will have 20
residences and some retail

Apartment building at 822 Howard Avenue (17 units)
Heres a pic for those that forgot it:


Union Street Hotel is now called Catahoula Hotel and opens in March. 35 hotel rooms. Should be moved to under construction.

Nordstrom Rack (36,000 sqft)

International Shipholding Headquarters (10,000 sqft of retail too)

Cochon Expansion

1581 Magazine is now under construction

as is the Hubig Site and the turnbull bakeries

The condos at the old Hurwitz Mintz Warehouse on Chartres are under construction right now (217-225 chartres street)27 units and about 10,000 sqft retail

301 Magazine Street - 9 units (5000 sqft retail)

Also The Oaks at Lakewood South is under construction(21 homesites)

301 St Charles Avenue (21 units and 5000 sqft retail)

1050 Annunciation (12 units and ground floor bakery and pizzeria)

also retail additions on ground floor of Pan Am building including Starbucks and Tsunami Sushi

Pontchartrain Hotel Renovation (new rooftop bar lounge and return of carribean room)

oh and dont forget my house lol 201 south villere (1 Unit)


Proposed:

tracage (not sure whats the deal with this since lawsuit stuff has been settled)

New project for 501 Elysian Fields (not sure unit count but is the old Elisio Lofts spot)

Hotel development by the halperns on corner of Melpomene and St Charles Avenue

The Garage (stephens garage on Carondelet ) Confirmed that this starts in April. 65 units and 15,000 sqft retail.

2400 St Charles Avenue (10 units and begins after Mardi Gras)

NOLA Luna dinner theatre on carondelet

ponthcartrain landing entertainment complex


Im sure Ive missed some stuff but this is a start.



The Garage part of The Jung looks to be wrapping up in the next week or two:

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Lafayette Square, Dunca Plaza or the surface parking or rooftop at Rouses would be neat places to have the market. Does anyone know what they paid to use that lot? or was it free ?

I think Reily Foods just donated the use of the lot to be a good corporate citizen (and for some kind of tax writeoff ). They didn't need the lot for employee parking on Saturdays.

http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket...t01returnid=55

Originally Posted by ap111

The DDD wants to revamp Lafayette Square to better handle the higher usage its been getting--concerts, markets, etc. and some of those include semi permenant market stalls. There's also plenty of parking lots left on Magazine towards St. Joseph that might work. I'm sure they'll come up with a good solution between now and whenever they start construction.

That's interesting and good to hear. Hopefully there isn't some historic designation that will get in the way. It needs to be more of a neighborhood park than it is now... there aren't a lot of open spaces in the Warehouse District. Just this and that nice park across from the Convention Center that's always locked up.


Lots of good spaces around the Square for a market. Lafayette next to Gallier Hall would be a nice space. Maybe they could close off Maestri St permanently on the downriver side and make it into a plaza-type space as well...

[tennis1400]

Prokowave:

here are a few more projects I forgot about:

Proposed:

846 Baronne
4 story building with three story addition on top. Not sure unit count


229 Royal Street
mixed use building with rooftop pool addition. not sure unit count

4030 Royal Street (upscale hostel in the bywater)
60 units and other uses

St Bernard Projects Large project on Lafitte Greenway (2645 Toulouse)
25,000sf of commercial space, 60 residential rental units and parking.


2606 St louis
(14 units and brewery)


3523 N Rampart: (mixed use redevelopment of Marianites Campus)



Also thought this was quite interesting but The Moxy Hotel proposed for 744 St Charles Avenue actually appealed the HDLC to City Council themselves. Smart move guys!




Also the Airport plans to release an RFP for Airport Hotel Proposals in the next two- three months.

[Uptowner]

There's currently a huge fire in the 1000 block of Canal St.


Appears to be this building.
Google Maps

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Uptowner

There's currently a huge fire in the 1000 block of Canal St.


Appears to be this building.
Google Maps

Yeah that building was empty and often cited for neglect in the past. Last was Diva Beauty. Which Im sure means there were some products that are pretty flammable in there. Hopefully when its redone it will be something much nicer.

[FenderOz]

Call me a cynic, but I'm suspicious of such a powerful blaze in an empty historical building. Especially when that building wasn't being maintained yet must have a high property value. It's a shame in a case like this that we can't make these landlords either fix the buildings they own or sell them to someone who will. People like Motwani are the bane of urban development.

[WesternSon]

Originally Posted by FenderOz

Call me a cynic, but I'm suspicious of such a powerful blaze in an empty historical building. Especially when that building wasn't being maintained yet must have a high property value. It's a shame in a case like this that we can't make these landlords either fix the buildings they own or sell them to someone who will. People like Motwani are the bane of urban development.

Some call that "Jewish Lightning" (No anti-Semitism endorsed though)

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by WesternSon

Some call that "Jewish Lightning" (No anti-Semitism endorsed though)

Im sure there definitely is the possibility of set fire here. Especially on a night as rainy as this one was.

Owned by

QUARTER HOLDINGS, LLC
Mailing Address 442 CANAL ST
SUITE 206
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
Location Address 1016 CANAL ST


Isnt that Motwani? Pretty sure thats Motwanis Company.




QUARTER HOLDINGS, L.L.C. Limited Liability Company METAIRIE Active

Previous Names
Business: QUARTER HOLDINGS, L.L.C.
Charter Number: 35613266K
Registration Date: 12/19/2003
Domicile Address
2201 RIDGELAKE DR.
METAIRIE, LA 70001
Mailing Address
442 CANAL ST., STE. 206
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
Status
Status: Active
Annual Report Status: In Good Standing
File Date: 12/19/2003
Last Report Filed: 1/5/2016
Type: Limited Liability Company

Registered Agent(s)
Agent: MARCUS GIUSTI
Address 1: 2201 RIDGELAKE DR.
City, State, Zip: METAIRIE, LA 70001
Appointment Date: 1/6/2015

Officer(s) Additional Officers: No
Officer: KISHORE V. MOTWANI
Title: Manager
Address 1: 442 CANAL STREET, SUITE 206
City, State, Zip: NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130

Mergers (1)
Filed Date Effective Date: Type Charter# Charter Name Role
1/13/2004 1/13/2004 MERGE 35613266K QUARTER HOLDINGS, L.L.C. SURVIVOR
34560362D QUARTER HOLDINGS, INC. NON-SURVIVOR

Amendments on File (2)
Description Date
Merger 1/13/2004
Domestic LLC Agent/Domicile Change 12/26/2013

[FenderOz]

I know it's such a strong word, but after reading up about him, I really do hate Motwani. He destroys and exploits this city's history and dignity every day. He's shady and a cheat, yet thanks to our poverty he can buy irreplaceable historical buildings and run them to the ground without guilt.

He's the last holdout to our renaissance and is surprisingly effective at pissing off everyone. Greedy, immoral, and a poop smear to the rest of us.

Glad I got that out of my system.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by FenderOz

I know it's such a strong word, but after reading up about him, I really do hate Motwani. He destroys and exploits this city's history and dignity every day. He's shady and a cheat, yet thanks to our poverty he can buy irreplaceable historical buildings and run them to the ground without guilt.

He's the last holdout to our renaissance and is surprisingly effective at pissing off everyone. Greedy, immoral, and a poop smear to the rest of us.

Glad I got that out of my system.

Im not sure if Im correct on this but I believe they are two brothers who hate eachother. One is decent the other not so much. Maybe someone else can verify this?

[FenderOz]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Im not sure if Im correct on this but I believe they are two brothers who hate eachother. One is decent the other not so much. Maybe someone else can verify this?

The one I speak of is Mike Motwani. Chandru I think is the better one.

Edit: they sound awfully like the Brennan bros then

[Chris from N.O.]

Now they're saying the building may collapse. What a shame.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

Now they're saying the building may collapse. What a shame.

Well hopeful they can save the façade ..That's all that was worth saving anyways.


Hopefully this fire could shine a light on the negligent landlords on this street again and we can get a renewed focus on getting all these properties that aren't in good shape in better shape. Heres an example though of another building that wasn't sprinklered.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Heres an example though of another building that wasn't sprinklered.

How does that happen? I can't imagine it isn't a code requirement. Is enforcement really that bad?