NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Hey guys, I just found out that I for sure start my new job here in LA on Monday, to celebrate I think Ill go to New Orleans either tomorrow or Thursday. I want to spend the night, probably will find a campground or something near the city to spend the night in. Anyways, it will be my first time to New Orleans and Im pretty excited, just hope its safe enough to be walking around at night with camera equipment, Ive heard it can be quite dangerous after dark in the French Quarter, but maybe thats just suburbanites talking. I hope to move to New Orleans in about half a year so Ill have plenty of time to explore the city hopefully in the near future. But, I sure do like Lafayette and the Cajun culture here; maybe Ill just stay here, its just lacking in the urban department a little but its for sure my favorite place Ive ever lived so far. Theres so much incredible history in this state, it will keep me busy for years. For example, this is just 1 mile down the road from me, sorry, I know this isnt the place for this post, but Im just so excited about living here as Ive been stuck in the Houston suburbs/small towns my whole life.


St. Johns Catholic Church, Lafayette, photo by me.

Really nice, what lens and body?

Its refreshing to see someone come here and love it. About the camera, I have done it but I know the city and wasn't alone. Be very aware of your surroundings if you venture away from tourist areas.

[photoLith]

Nikon D200 with 10.5mm fisheye, but the camera doesnt make the photographer. And thanks, and yeah, I for sure like this state a hell of a lot better than Arkansas or Texas.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Ive heard it can be quite dangerous after dark in the French Quarter, but maybe thats just suburbanites talking.

The FQ is the meeting ground for all elements of the city, including gang members. When two thugs that have a beef encounter each other on the streets, it's not pretty.

HOWEVER, you are fairly safe as a non-participant. Certainly no less safe than you would be walking around Houston. Just don't go north of St. Claude/Rampart/St. Charles and you should be fine. As long as you're within ~10 blocks of the river, the city on the whole is very safe.

[IceCream]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Just got back from the AIA tour of the Saratoga Building. Lots of interesting concepts utilized in there, but all in all wasnt a fan of the finishes! Tiled carpet just doesnt work for me!

But still great to see a building like that being put back into commerce. Also, he mentioned three restaurants were interested in the smaller of the two commercial spaces and that he has another business for the 6000 sqft space!

ALso Mr Wisznia said that the next project The Garage will be getting going soon!

http://thegarageneworleans.com/

Forgive my terrible memory but the part on the garage sounds to be backed up by more than just Wisznia's words. I remember something a week ago or so that they'd gotten approval for something ...bonds or CPC on their design...i forgot what but it obviously was a sign that they were ready to move forward.

I drive by it every day down Carondelet...would be nice to have that in commerce and maybe someone will pick up the empty lot next door and funky "strip mall" across Julia. Rather, 80% of that block needs attention. Just about the only thing going for it is Emeril's HQ and that one bar..

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=lee+ci...src=6&t=h&z=19

[IceCream]

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

CPC can't decide on shit...

"The fate of a planned upscale restaurant on Magazine Street will be up to the New Orleans City Council, and it could depend on whether the operators can get permission to use the parking lot at a well-known clothing store across the street. The City Planning Commission divided 4-3 on the issue Tuesday, one vote short of the five needed for an official endorsement, meaning that the issue will go to the council without a recommendation from the commission. The site is in Councilwoman Susan Guidry's district....."

[IceCream]

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...yal-caribbean/

"The refurbishing and expansion of the Julia Street Cruise Terminal will be completed just in time to welcome back a cruise line that has been missing from the New Orleans market since Hurricane Katrina.

The Voyager of the Seas will dock at the revamped Julia Street Cruise Terminal starting in November, Port of New Orleans spokesman Chris Bonura said. The ship will be the largest ever to homeport in New Orleans, with a 3,838-guest capacity....."

All good news!!! If you continue reading the article it goes on to describe the renovations to the terminal which sounds impressive. Carnival is also adding a ship in the fall (removing one, replacing with two).

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The FQ is the meeting ground for all elements of the city, including gang members. When two thugs that have a beef encounter each other on the streets, it's not pretty.

HOWEVER, you are fairly safe as a non-participant. Certainly no less safe than you would be walking around Houston. Just don't go north of St. Claude/Rampart/St. Charles and you should be fine. As long as you're within ~10 blocks of the river, the city on the whole is very safe.

Do you think the city will ever clean up and get safer overall? Ive heard one of the worst public housing projects in the country is basically right across from the French Quarter, and theres tons of gangs and poverty is rampant. Do you think NOLA will ever knock Iberville down like they did with Cabrini Green in Chicago and then relocate the residents? I think if they did that, New Orleans would vastly improve. Im sure its come up for consideration to tear down Iberville on more than a few occasions and then turn it into mixed income housing.

[NolaWave]

Originally Posted by IceCream

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...yal-caribbean/

"The refurbishing and expansion of the Julia Street Cruise Terminal will be completed just in time to welcome back a cruise line that has been missing from the New Orleans market since Hurricane Katrina.

The Voyager of the Seas will dock at the revamped Julia Street Cruise Terminal starting in November, Port of New Orleans spokesman Chris Bonura said. The ship will be the largest ever to homeport in New Orleans, with a 3,838-guest capacity....."

All good news!!! If you continue reading the article it goes on to describe the renovations to the terminal which sounds impressive. Carnival is also adding a ship in the fall (removing one, replacing with two).

The cruise industry (although still tourist related) is a great plus for the local economy. It brings in people to the city on a continuous basis throughout the entire year, many of whom spend at least one night in the city. There are also many local companies that supply the ships, which adds jobs for delivery, etc. Hopefully the market will be able to fill these four ships, so that we will keep them or add more!

[tennis1400]

One of the reasons New Orleans is such a great spot for cruise related travelers is because its within a 500 mile driving distance of more people than the other cities. Miami is simply too far south for many people too consider driving to it and cruises are really a middle class vacation. So New Orleans is just well located and the city being a tourist destination itself certainly doesn't hurt.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by IceCream

Forgive my terrible memory but the part on the garage sounds to be backed up by more than just Wisznia's words. I remember something a week ago or so that they'd gotten approval for something ...bonds or CPC on their design...i forgot what but it obviously was a sign that they were ready to move forward.

I drive by it every day down Carondelet...would be nice to have that in commerce and maybe someone will pick up the empty lot next door and funky "strip mall" across Julia. Rather, 80% of that block needs attention. Just about the only thing going for it is Emeril's HQ and that one bar..

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=lee+ci...src=6&t=h&z=19

There was an article a couple of weeks back mentioning how he was getting financing and that it was from the New Orleans Firefighters Retirement Fund.

[IceCream]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Do you think the city will ever clean up and get safer overall? Ive heard one of the worst public housing projects in the country is basically right across from the French Quarter, and theres tons of gangs and poverty is rampant. Do you think NOLA will ever knock Iberville down like they did with Cabrini Green in Chicago and then relocate the residents? I think if they did that, New Orleans would vastly improve. Im sure its come up for consideration to tear down Iberville on more than a few occasions and then turn it into mixed income housing.

I know you are new so we won't hold it against you...look back a few pages and you will see a slew of posts concerning Iberville. Instead of repeating all of it, in short...yes it's being torn down and replaced with something much better..THANKFULLY

[photoLith]

^
Sorry, and thats great news.

[jowens]

Originally Posted by photoLith

And thanks, and yeah, I for sure like this state a hell of a lot better than Arkansas or Texas.

You're definitely in the best part of my home state. I've always said south Louisiana is what separates itself from the other states in the south. North Louisiana is basically like E.Texas, Ark, Miss, Alabama, etc.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by jowens

You're definitely in the best part of my home state. I've always said south Louisiana is what separates itself from the other states in the south. North Louisiana is basically like E.Texas, Ark, Miss, Alabama, etc.

Reality is we should be two seperate states!

[urbanwatcher]

Has anyone heard news about a CVS moving into the old Frankie & Johnnie’s building on St. Claude?

[SlidellWx]

@photoLith...The vast majority of the city is actually quite safe. There are a few areas that are no go zones. One area is downriver of Louisiana, riverside of Claiborne, upriver of the Pontchartrain Expressway, lakeside of Carondelet. This is the Central City neighborhood. This neighborhood is slowly becoming safer (trust me...it's nowhere near as crazy as it was before Katrina), but it's also not yet a safe place to walk alone in. Another rough Uptown neighborhood is Hollygrove. Basically lakeside of Claiborne, upriver from Carrollton, all the way to Palmetto St.

I would also be leery of the section of Mid-City between Tulane and Banks Streets, although I have a good friend on Baudin near the Esperanza Charter School who has never had any problems. It's still a rougher part of town. Heading downriver...I would also avoid everything downriver of Canal from the riverside of Broad to the lakeside of Rampart/St. Claude. This takes in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Wards...including the Treme', St. Roch, St. Claude, and Seventh Ward neighborhoods. The vast majority of the murders in the city happen in these 4 neighborhoods...plus Central City and Hollygrove.

Pretty much anything lakeside of Broad, and east of Banks St. is fine. This would include everything north of I-610. If you head over the Industrial Canal...the vast majority of the East is fine. I would avoid the area between Morrison and Chef Highway between Downman and I-10. I would also avoid the area between Dwyer and Chef from I-10 to Crowder. Otherwise, you'll be fine in the East. If you head across the river to Algiers...most of it is fine as well. The areas I would avoid are the Fishcher projects between the river and Westbank Expressway, and the apartments along Garden Oaks Blvd. and Wall Blvd. Those are the trouble spots on the Westbank.

One interesting thing about New Orleans is that even some of the nicer neighborhoods look a bit rundown. I have a friend in the Bywater on Piety St. who's house on the outside looks like complete crap (and that's being kind). However...inside has been totally redone with beautiful hardwood floors, new kitchen, etc. Definitely, can't judge a book by it's cover down here.

New Orleans is one of the few cities in the country that has a true and unique identity. This makes it one of the great cities in our nation, IMHO. It's a photographers nirvana. Enjoy!

[IceCream]

Originally Posted by urbanwatcher

Has anyone heard news about a CVS moving into the old Frankie & Johnnie’s building on St. Claude?

I don't know anything about that CVS, but I was wondering if anyone knows why construction of the CVS at Napoleon and Claiborne has ground to a halt after they poured the slab a few months ago....very odd.

In other news in that neighborhood, the new Autozone down the street should be open (taking up most of the concrete lot next to the gas station in the googlemaps link) and when I drove by yesterday I saw that a crane was lifting a bunch of prefab pieces into a 3 storey structure behind the big funeral home across the street. Looking at the googlemaps link they were building it in the big grassy lot behind it and to the right. This whole thing is supposed to be office space or something right?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Wendy's,+South+Claiborne+Avenue,+New+Orleans,+LA&hl=en&ll=29.940605,-90.100411&spn=0.002166,0.003087&sll=31.952162,-95.097656&sspn=48.186523,101.162109&vpsrc=6&t=h&fll=29.94067,-90.100591&fspn=0.001083,0.001544&z=19

[dgpatel]

It would be awesome to finally have a Kohls on the Southshore. Northshore, BR, and Lafayette already have locations.

LINK

[NOLAmike]

I saw yall talking about Frankie and Johnny's and I couldn't resist posting the link to their commercial ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI7jC57GuZM

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by dgpatel

It would be awesome to finally have a Kohls on the Southshore. Northshore, BR, and Lafayette already have locations.

LINK

Still dont know why tax breaks are needed to attract a second rate department store!

Im not sure why but this item on bidclerk made me smile:
1710306 New Orleans, LA Other 09/15/2011
Description Renovation of an adult club in New Orleans. Completed working drawings call for the exterior renovation of an existing gentleman's club. The owner has determined a list of select general contractors to bid on this project. Invited general contra...Click here for complete Project Details


Is this for Costco?
1701016 New Orleans, LA Retail 09/14/2011
Description Site work and new construction of a national chain retail building in New Orleans. Design plans call for the construction of a 145,000-square-foot retail warehouse which will include a tire center, pharmacy, liquor store, and an on-site gas station...Click here for complete Project Details

1694074 New Orleans, LA Multi-Residential 09/14/2011
Description Renovation of a multi-residential development in New Orleans. Conceptual plans call for the renovation of a 98-unit low-income senior apartment complex. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012 at the earliest. Interest...Click here for complete Project Details

1627242 New Orleans, LA Clubhouse / Community Centers 09/14/2011
Description Site work and new construction of a community center in New Orleans. Completed working drawings call for the construction of a 2,083-square-foot cultural center which will include office space. Subcontractor bids are due to the general contractor...Click here for complete Project Details