NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

I'm assuming this is a residential conversion? (and yes, I know how to quote, people, I'm trying to save some page space).

Residential yes, not sure if apartments or condos. Thanks for not quoting the whole thing. Picture is big for sure!


BTW guys Im a member of the Foundation Room at the House of Blues and thought it might be fun to organize a get together for people on the forum. If your interested message me and we can find a time that could be convenient for everyone! All I would need is your name to put you on the list!

Cheers

[midcity]

Originally Posted by Reverend_Cletus

Unfortunately not anything to get excited about. It's for the New Orleans Public Belt.

Yeah, it is the Public Belt's Huey P. Long Bridge Administration and Maintenance building.

Did anyone read the City Business article a couple days ago "Council members spar over 1031 Canal after approval" that indicated councilmember Hedge-Morrell's reason for her "no" vote on 1031 Canal? The article is locked and I don't have a subscription, but I was curious about her justification and what else the article says.

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/bl...fter-approval/

[SlidellWx]

It's a very interesting article. Basically Hedge-Morrell approached Palmer well in advance and stated that she intended to vote with the VCPORA. Palmer knew in advance what to expect from Hedge-Morrell, and stated she appreciated the honesty.

Hedge-Morrell said she explained to Palmer she wanted to vote “no” to show her allegiance to Vieux Carre Property Owners Residents and Associates, which led the opposition to developer Praveen Kailas’ proposal for the former Woolworth’s site.

“I knew it wouldn’t change the outcome, and I wanted the many French Quarter residents who worked closely with me over the years to know that I support what they believe,” Hedge-Morrell said.

Palmer, who spent more than nine months working with the mayor, city agencies, business owners, neighborhood groups, architects and Kailas, to make sure the project was fully vetted and followed an open and transparent process, appreciated Hedge-Morrell’s honesty, said Nicole Webre, Palmer’s legislative director

Stacy Head appears to have been a bit more unprofessional in the whole matter. I'm very disappointed to learn of this.

Head’s last-hour intrusion into a nine-month process she had taken no active interest annoys Palmer and her staff. But it’s her account about how she chose to become involved that really bothers them.

At no point was there a consensus that the building’s height would come in between 140 and 160 feet, Palmer said, a fact Hedge-Morrell confirmed.

Head’s claim that she only decided to get involved two days before the vote is also false, Webre said. Two weeks before the council vote, Head informed Palmer’s office she was considering a height limit amendment and one week later reaffirmed her position, Webre said.

The biggest problem Palmer said she had with Head’s amendment is that it did not appear to be based on facts or research.

When Head walked into Palmer’s office the day before the vote, she said she was going to propose a height limit of 120 feet, the same size as the neighboring Audubon Hotel, Palmer said.

“I said that the height of the Audubon is 154 feet and she said, ‘OK, that’s what I’m going to say,’” said Palmer who was incensed at the seemingly cavalier way Head approached the issue.

Palmer took a very touchy subject, and I think did a great job. She did not bow to the preservationists completely, but took a managed approach to the situation by poring over data and working with the developer to see what would work at a given height and given square footage for retail.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by SlidellWx

Palmer took a very touchy subject, and I think did a great job. She did not bow to the preservationists completely, but took a managed approach to the situation by poring over data and working with the developer to see what would work at a given height and given square footage for retail.

Wow Stacey Head looks really bad in this instance. BTW whatever happened to deferring to the Council member for said district? Why is Stacey Head involved in something outside her jurisdiction. If its cause she is running for At Large don't you think she would at least do some research to support her views instead of just sucking up to VCPORA? Well both ladies can count on my opposition to them for voting against this.

[ardecila]

I talked to Palmer several times when we were developing the master plan. She's the consummate politician, so it was tricky to get a sense of her position on the issues I care about (development, zoning, etc). I definitely got a sense of her as a very intelligent, open-minded person, though.

Originally Posted by tennis1400

BTW guys Im a member of the Foundation Room at the House of Blues and thought it might be fun to organize a get together for people on the forum. If your interested message me and we can find a time that could be convenient for everyone! All I would need is your name to put you on the list!

Awesome idea! I'm studying in Rome at the moment, but I was actually planning to do something similar when I get back (January). I was thinking the R Bar, but the Foundation Room is cool too.

[Blitzen]

Here are the latest images of the renovated exterior to the Superdome/ Champions Square. The green mesh wall around the ramps in the first picture should have real vines planted on it soon. (images courtesy of http://www.superdome.com/site.php?pageID=45)



A permanent Grand Staircase has been installed and features brick pavers. The top of Gate C has been widened to allow for easy access and accommodate patron flow to the Exterior Plaza Level of the Superdome. The center portion of the Grand Staircase provides an area for patrons to sit and enjoy food and drinks with a fantastic view of the entertainment on the main stage in Champions Square.


The entire Square and La Salle Street were paved with brick pavers, creating a pedestrian mall thoroughfare.



983 LED Lights were installed at the top of the Gate C Podium and on the landing of the Grand Staircase.



Photo from the lookout point at the top of the Grand Staircase.

[tennis1400]

It looks great, Still unsure what it is they are building on the back side of Benson Tower. ALso, any ideas when the dome lights get turned on?

[Chris from N.O.]

Yeah, I went down there last weekend, it's really nice. But I had also walked around there when they were still working on it and one of the LEDS popped up out of the ground when I stepped on it. Hopefully there won't be any issues with shoddy workmanship.

Tennis, it really looks like they're building a 3-story party deck. Not what you'd usually expect from an office tower, but hey, Benson does own the thing.

[tennis1400]

Yeah it definitely looks that way. They are also building a part that seems to go really high on the corner of the square by Benson Tower. Seems like it will look really good I guess I was just surprised the expense being spent on building that part of it.


Global Green Holy Cross Community Center
New Orleans, LA
Client:
Global Green USA
Square Footage:
8,660 sf
Construction Cost:
$2,500,000
Completion:
2012

[NolaWave]

Announcement of a corporate sponsor will be coming soon according to WDSU. Recent rumors have named Mercedes-Benz. While it is not development related, thought it was interesting to see who it might be. Definitely an outsider since we have no corporate base.

[NolaWave]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

It looks great, Still unsure what it is they are building on the back side of Benson Tower. ALso, any ideas when the dome lights get turned on?

Was suppossed to be done a few weeks ago and haven't heard a peep about it since the announcement. Hopefully they didn't cancel those plans as I think it will look great.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by NolaWave

Announcement of a corporate sponsor will be coming soon according to WDSU. Recent rumors have named Mercedes-Benz. While it is not development related, thought it was interesting to see who it might be. Definitely an outsider since we have no corporate base.

Great news... rack up another win for New Orleans delivered by Brees himself. No way we get that deal a few years ago.

http://www.wdsu.com/sports/29378271/detail.html

[tennis1400]

Mercedes Benz makes sense since Benson owns a dealership too and the first one in the country to be remade into the new autobahn style showrooms. As long as it isnt the SuperMaxipadDome Ill be good!

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by NolaWave

Was suppossed to be done a few weeks ago and haven't heard a peep about it since the announcement. Hopefully they didn't cancel those plans as I think it will look great.

Given the naming announcement and the next home game being a night game against Indianapolis. Plus the Hyatt opening the Wendesday before the game. Look for it to debut then!

[rcp11889]

If anyone's interested, the APTA just released the newest transit ridership info for the country and NORTA's ridership keeps on increasing!

http://apta.com/resources/statistics...rship-APTA.pdf

[polemic]

Originally Posted by rcp11889

If anyone's interested, the APTA just released the newest transit ridership info for the country and NORTA's ridership keeps on increasing!

http://apta.com/resources/statistics...rship-APTA.pdf

That's great news that we're seeing greater than 15% growth from RTA. And streetcars are back to almost the same numbers that we were seeing in 2004 (20k average weekday riders now vs. 24k riders in 2004). But the bus network is still such a shadow of its former self and we have so far to go to get back to the level of service we once had (49k average weekday riders now vs. 124k before the storm), let alone having a truly public-transit accessible city. Luckily, Veolia seems committed to growing the network (and doing so in a fiscally sustainable way).

[dgpatel]

Just saw this on the top right corner of today's TP front page, but can't find an article about it from searching nola.com or google. It says see Money section, but I don't currently have access to it.

I didn't know the building was up for sale. Any ideas what the plans will be?

[dgpatel]

Just found this article from March:

Big Easy Sale

MetLife Inc. has put New Orleans's tallest skyscraper up for sale as property owners are testing the waters to see how far outside New York and Washington, D.C., the recovery in commercial real-estate prices has spread, said people familiar with matter.

The owner of the 51-story One Shell Square, located at the corner of Poydras and St. Charles Sts., is looking to fetch a price in the range of about $130 million, or about $100 a square foot. If successful the transaction would be the city's largest office deal by total price since Real Capital Analytics began tracking sales in 2001.

The record to date is held by Place St. Charles, which sold for $103 million in 2008. Evan Stone of Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the building for MetLife.

The 1.3-million-square-foot building was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and completed in the 1970s, according to CoStar Group Inc.Shell Oil Co., a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, has a lease that extends through 2016 for about 50% of the office space. Shell and MetLife didn't respond to calls for comment.
—Maura Webber Sadovi

Link



Update: Just posted on NOLA.com: LINK

The sale brings a new real estate company to New Orleans that is likely to expand.

Timothy Bonang, vice president of investor relations at CommonWealth, said his company tries to get into the market by purchasing a "trophy asset, " and then hopes to pick up other properties in the market. One Shell Square is CommonWealth's only holding in Louisiana.

[IceCream]

http://uptownmessenger.com/2011/10/r...ee/#more-11998

A plan to tear down a mansion on St. Charles Avenue designed by one of New Orleans’ most celebrated architects to make room for a new single-family home in its place must be decided by the City Council, after the committee that oversees demolition requests cast a split vote over the issue Monday.

Homeowner Jeff Goldring and his supporters touted the agreements they had reached with two neighborhood associations, the St. Charles Avenue Association and Hurstville, as well as the national reputation of their Covington-based architect, Ken Tate. Opponents countered that the architecture of the existing building is already significant, and that the family should not be able to tear the home down simply because they want something different there....

Image courtesty Preservation Resource Center

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

Personally, I'm split..... I can see both sides if Goldring really means what he's saying, but it does fit into the neighborhood yet it's nothing remarkable from the outside. Yeah, single family would be nice...but I dunno...

[Chris from N.O.]

Up on nola.com front page now... 10 year deal, now officially the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. After this the state won't have to provide any subsidies!

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf...lls_super.html