NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[tennis1400]

Blue Plate is a bit of a weird location but id hazard to guess a conversion along the lines of the American Can Company could succeed there!

[sgray]

Streetcar, Saratoga and Superdome Projects are Catalysts for Revitalization on Loyola Avenue

I didn't know about the Saratoga project. More apartments in the CBD.


During the height of football season, more than 75,000 fans walk down Loyola Avenue in Downtown's Central Business District to watch the World Champion Saints play in the Louisiana Superdome. With the recent unveiling and grand opening of Champion's Square, a new outdoor festival space with food from local restaurants and live entertainment pre- and post-game, the area is attracting more fans than ever.

The newly-formed Sports Entertainment District is breathing new life into an area of Downtown that was hit hard during Hurricane Katrina. Life-long season ticket holder and DDD Public Safety Manager John Roussell recounts the fan experience pre-Katrina: "It used to be that fans would enter Poydras Plaza from Loyola Avenue and walk through the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel on the way into the games. The Hyatt was always a gathering place for fans and the last place you stopped before the Dome."

A recent announcement promises that it won't be long until fans like Roussell can once again walk through the Hyatt Hotel on their way to the game. Earlier this summer, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans announced that Poydras Property Holdings plans to reopen the 1,193-room hotel by fall of 2011 and is undertaking a multi-million dollar redevelopment to include comprehensive meeting & exhibition space, a 350-seat, full-service restaurant with a celebrity chef, a 210-seat media/action bar and many more amenities.

The transformation and reopening of the Hyatt are part of an economic development plan designed by the Downtown Development District and the Regional Planning Commission to revitalize Loyola Avenue and the lower Central Business District.

"Not only is the reopening of the Hyatt a major "win" for the Sports Entertainment District and that area of Downtown, but the plans to re-orient the entrance of the hotel to Loyola Avenue will stimulate great energy and activity along that street," says Henry Charlot, DDD Director of Economic Development.

And there's another good reason the hotel's entrance will be on Loyola--Hyatt hotel guests will be able to hop on and off a new Loyola Avenue streetcar line, set to be in service by early 2012. The federally funded line will run from the Union Passenger Terminal to Canal Street, where it will connect to the Canal Street line and eventually a North Rampart line (Phase 2), enabling passengers to take a streetcar to nearly all of the city's major neighborhoods.

Tourists and hotel guests won't be the only ones to benefit from the additional streetcar line. Early next summer, 155 new apartment units will be added in the Loyola Avenue neighborhood at The Saratoga--the latest residential development project by architect and developer Marcel Wisznia. Wisznia purchased the building in early 2006, right after Hurricane Katrina, and is redeveloping the former office building into 15-stories of 1- and 2-bedroom market rate apartments tailored to appeal to doctors, residents, medical students and others working in the medical corridor. Construction, managed by contractor Woodward Design and Build, began earlier this summer. Once completed, The Saratoga will also feature an outdoor pool deck, two penthouse apartments, exercise and conference rooms, and a private bridge to an adjacent parking garage. More than 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail space will also be available.

Wisznia says, "We've taken the concept of flexible living and the ability to create your own environment that started with Union Lofts and carried that to the next level with The Saratoga. We know as a population that you have to live where you work and work where you live. There's no better place to do that than Downtown New Orleans."

For more information on any of the projects above, click the links or contact the Downtown Development District at (504) 561-8927.

Click here for a photo gallery of the Loyola Avenue Revitalization.

[sgray]

http://www.neworleansdowntown.com/site236.php

[ardecila]

Wisznia isn't seriously gonna put this ceiling in the apartments, is he?

Or is that the concept? "Live on the set of Mad Men?"

What a stupid idea... People don't want their home to look like just like their office. Just leave the ducts and mechanicals exposed like every other loft building, instead of this awful acoustical stuff.

The windows are terrible, too, but changing them would totally change the building's outside appearance and it would require lots of money....



I do love the idea of putting more stuff along Loyola Street. By the way, can we scrap the name "Elk Place"? It just adds confusion, since it's just a segment between Loyola to the west and Basin Street to the east. Really, they should just name the whole thing "Basin Street" for simplicity, all the way to the expressway - especially since lots of people know "Basin Street" from "Basin Street Blues".

Apparently, the only reason they changed it is because the Elks didn't want to be associated with Storyville prostitution that was going on just a few blocks away on Basin St. Now they're not there anymore (they meet in Metairie) so drop the name, please!

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by ardecila

By the way, can we scrap the name "Elk Place"? It just adds confusion, since it's just a segment between Loyola to the west and Basin Street to the east. Really, they should just name the whole thing "Basin Street" for simplicity, all the way to the expressway - especially since lots of people know "Basin Street" from "Basin Street Blues".

Agreed. I'm going to email the Mayor/City Council and recommend they change the entire street to "Basin Street" and definitely not "N. Basin Street" and "S. Basin Street" just like most other streets which cross Canal. Please do the same.

[Uptowner]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

...and definitely not "N. Basin Street" and "S. Basin Street" just like most other streets which cross Canal. Please do the same.

They'd have to unless they changed the numbering plan. Otherwise you would end up with duplicate addresses on both sides of Canal. It could be done, but you would end up with 10 blocks of random numbers that don't make any sense in the big scheme of things. Put it like this, it won't be as simple as it sounds.

[camkazaam]

I'd like to say a little bit about New Orleans skyscrapers. I've always had strong feelings about them, but those feelings have changed over the years.
The last major skyscrapers were built in the late 80s, right when I was becoming old enough to pay attention to buildings. I was born in 1980. I took a lot of pride in our skyline when I was a kid. (I thought about stuff like this.) I thought (and still think) that its an impressive skyline, especially for a city as small as ours. It helps make our city feel big, which I think is a good thing.

After Katrina, and after I lived in DC for a couple years (a city without any skyscrapers), I moved back to NOLA. The skyscraper geek in me was excited about the various highrises that were planned: Trump, Tracage, etc.. I wanted our skyline to grow. But then, after I biked from Uptown to the CBD every day for work, I realized that our skyscrapers impede the historic flow from uptown to the French Quarter. It's like they don't belong there, like they're thrown into the middle of a 19th century city (which they were).

These days, I don't want any more skyscrapers, unless they're really architecturally nice, or fill in a gap in the neighborhood that is currently a parking lot. On the other hand, it's important to me that developers somehow manage to save the abandoned skyscrapers. I'm thinking World Trade Center, Plaza Tower, and Charity Hospital. These buildings are all distinctive and add character to our skyline. (By the way, am I the only one who's always loved Plaza Tower?)

Last thought: Imagine if we didn't have skyscrapers and all the offices way up in the air were placed in 2-to-5 story historic buildings or infill lots instead. That would cure a lot of our problem with blighted properties... That's just an impractical fantasy, I'm well aware.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by camkazaam

Last thought: Imagine if we didn't have skyscrapers and all the offices way up in the air were placed in 2-to-5 story historic buildings or infill lots instead. That would cure a lot of our problem with blighted properties... That's just an impractical fantasy, I'm well aware.

The height restrictions are a big reason why downtown DC has so few vacant lots.

On the other hand, it's also led to the demolition or facadectomies of countless historic buildings that are lower than what is allowed.

Also, the Vieux Carre Commission has only been successful at preserving the character of the French Quarter (for better or worse) because the CBD across Canal Street allowed tall buildings, so big hotels could go up there for all the tourists. With a height limit on the CBD, development pressures on the French Quarter might have led lots of FQ blocks to be replaced with mid-rises.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Uptowner

They'd have to unless they changed the numbering plan. Otherwise you would end up with duplicate addresses on both sides of Canal. It could be done, but you would end up with 10 blocks of random numbers that don't make any sense in the big scheme of things. Put it like this, it won't be as simple as it sounds.

Yeah - streets that exist on both sides of Canal have to have the north/south monikers.

[sguil1]

Navy may throw life raft to Avondale

Members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation say the U.S. Navy is expected to announce today that it will move up the date to start building double-hulled tankers to 2014. That means Avondale shipyard could compete for new contracts as Northrop Grumman plans to consolidate its shipbuilding efforts at its Pascagoula, Miss., facility.

Sen. Mary Landrieu and Congressmen Charlie Melancon and Joseph Cao have said that they have had conversations with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who told him he would take steps in order to save jobs at Avondale. There are currently 4,700 Northrop Grumman workers at the West Bank facility, most of whom are expected to either lose their jobs when the company ends its operation in 2014.

According to statements from the congressional representatives, the Navy is expected to require the last two of its amphibious transport ships be completed at Avondale. Northrop Grumman had planned to finish the project at Pascagoula.

Mabus also reportedly told the delegation that he would advance the timeline for its tankers from 2017. The Navy has yet to put out bids for the project, and there is no guarantee that the project will be awarded to Avondale. National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. of San Diego, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, is expected to bid for the tanker work.

The Navy is also expected to announce that it will direct $10 million set aside for Hurricane Katrina recovery to continue education and training programs at Delgado Community College and the University of New Orleans that involve partnerships with the Avondale shipyard. Another $6 million is expected to be invested in Louisiana shipyards, such as Textron, Swiftships and Metal Shark, to encourage them to acquire the Avondale site.•

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/bl...t-to-avondale/

[greenparrot]

Originally Posted by camkazaam

Last thought: Imagine if we didn't have skyscrapers and all the offices way up in the air were placed in 2-to-5 story historic buildings or infill lots instead. That would cure a lot of our problem with blighted properties... That's just an impractical fantasy, I'm well aware.

NOT...that's why we are on a skyscraper forum in the first place. We have to get over then fact that we are not in the 19th century anymore. Besides...I like the contrast from the tall and modern to the historic. I just wish some of our skyscpapers were not as terrible as they are..WTC as an example IMHO

[camkazaam]

Originally Posted by greenparrot

I just wish some of our skyscpapers were not as terrible as they are..WTC as an example IMHO

Which ones do you think are terible? I think the ones back behind One Shell Square near Loyola Ave. are pretty horrendous.

My point was also based on personal experience. I finally got to work in a skyscraper last year, and I really didn't like it. I'd rather work in a building where I have easy access to the outdoors. I felt trapped up on the 35th floor, where I had to take little elevator trip just to get outside. I'd much rather work in a 2 story building on Magazine Street.

As far as this being the "skyscraper page," well I don't know. How many of the recent development plans on here have been for actual skyscrapers? I think it's about zero.

[sooperpaz]

I had spoken to someone at the DDD who said a big reason some of the high rise development fell through (like Tracage) is because people buying in this city are much more interested in the low rises and historic conversions. New Orleans won't ever be New York, thankfully, so it should stick to what makes it unique, which I think would mean smaller buildings that blend in to the historic environment.

[rcp11889]

I feel like since the area around the CBD has already really changed from a low-scale historic neighborhood into a modern business district over the past 60 years, developers should continue looking to bring skyscraper living to the area. There are so many empty parking lots and vacant buildings that are ripe for development.

Also, I've read earlier in this thread that some of you think that the Entergy Plant redevelopment could include a Target, IKEA, or H and M etc..I'm curious as to why you think that or if it's just pure speculation.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by rcp11889

Also, I've read earlier in this thread that some of you think that the Entergy Plant redevelopment could include a Target, IKEA, or H and M etc..I'm curious as to why you think that or if it's just pure speculation.

The retail consultant is promising a huge, important retail tenant that will "change the face of New Orleans". With that kind of hype, it's got to be something big, and probably something trendy.

[ardecila]

University Medical Center campus plans still being tweaked
Published: Monday, September 20, 2010, 7:00 AM

Aides to Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu say the two administrations are still weighing changes to the design of the Charity Hospital successor, with the intention of adding street-level retail space, maintaining at least some of the Mid-City street grid and reducing the amount of surface parking on the 34-acre University Medical Center campus.

Michael Diresto, a spokesman for the state Division of Administration, confirmed that the state is exploring ways to build additional structured parking rather than the current plan of one parking deck and seven square blocks of parking lots. He also endorsed the city's push for more street-level retail spaces along the edges of the campus, a design feature that would encourage more pedestrian entry to the campus from the surrounding neighborhood.

The central question on changing the parking plan is money. The per-space cost of parking decks is significantly more than paved spaces. The parking deck already in the plans carries an estimated $33 million price tag for 1,347 spaces on five levels.

The simplest solution is simply to use money already included in the $1.2 billion construction budget if, as state facilities chief Jerry Jones predicts, the construction bids come in at rock-bottom levels because of the lagging economy. Other possibilities are privatizing some of the parking to a firm that would cover some or all of the construction cost and then control the spaces. Kopplin noted that several parking decks around the state government complex in Baton Rouge are financed by assessments to the agencies that use them.

One challenge of creating more retail space is conforming to state laws that limit the private use of land that is expropriated for public purpose. Similar considerations could come into play if the project depends on federal mortgage insurance to back construction bonds.

Kopplin said the city believes that "auxiliary services" that are directly connected to the UMC mission -- pharmacies, medical suppliers, flower shops, restaurants -- should clear any legal obstacles.

There's lots of interesting information in the article. It's generally positive news, and it increases my support for the LSU hospital project which has been, thus far, awfully planned.

The main problem with hospital campuses, especially if they're planned to grow outward, is that the land values of privately held parcels nearby will be depressed due to the potential for a taking in the future.

While I'm encouraged by the fact that the state is at least considering more garage parking, the retail side of things is rather depressing. The hospital complex doesn't need more than a handful of shops, and anything that opens up is going to have very limited hours. Flower shops? Are they kidding? The edge of the hospital complex needs to serve the surrounding neighborhood with retail, not just hospital workers. If it doesn't, then the hospital complex will become just as much of a dead zone as the current one is.

As a side note, I'd like to see an architectural competition for simple, low-cost things that could be done to utilize the blocks that are being held for expansion. If the parking gets placed into garages and the south part of the site ends up being a bunch of gravel lots, that's even worse than the surface parking. If those gravel lots can be converted into an asset for the city, even a temporary one, that's far, far better.

[elwin514]

New Orleans really need these stores
Crate & Barrel
IKEA
Target

[rcp11889]

I don't wanna get my hopes up for a certain store but they did say an "iconic" retailer. I know that the old Macy's was a huge fail, but I feel like that is the one store in the country that is truly "iconic". Not sure how well it would do right there though...A Target would DEFINITELY be the best option for that site, along with other valuable stores New Orleans desperately needs. And, I mean retail stores not restaurants. New Orleans will never be able to support those national chain restaurants that are in every other mall in the country. Think, California Pizza Kitchen, Kona Grill, etc...We just have too many great restaurants to even think of going to those. But, with that said I really think we could support stores like a Target, Ikea, etc.

On that note, has anyone else noticed how much New Orleans has changed in the past year since the Saints won the Super Bowl. A lot of people doubted that it would have that much of an impact but I really have noticed how it has become such a better city. So many things are actually happening now, and national retailers are moving in finally after so many years.

[greenparrot]

Originally Posted by camkazaam

Which ones do you think are terible?

1010 COMMON (if that's still the name)
225 Baronne
Sheraton Hotel
Marriot Hotel
WTC
Plaza Tower
Hilton Hotel

[Nolacat157]

Originally Posted by rcp11889

On that note, has anyone else noticed how much New Orleans has changed in the past year since the Saints won the Super Bowl. A lot of people doubted that it would have that much of an impact but I really have noticed how it has become such a better city. So many things are actually happening now, and national retailers are moving in finally after so many years.

I think Landrieu and his team would like some credit for some of that as well. Things do seem more promising these days though.