NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread - Page 142

FrenchTwins · #**2821** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 4:56 PM**

Here's some commentary on the 4-4 vote on 1031 Canal:

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...ns-to-council/

Apparently there were two commissioners absent this vote and three the last vote! Do these people get paid to not be there?

All the while looking at other city development threads on this forum, a massive three block development in downtown Miami went through one vote in one day and got approved. Why can't we have that?

And this from 1031canal.com:

Considering both the June and July CBD-HDLC meetings,

7 of 10 CBD-HDLC commissioners voted for approval.

(6 votes are Needed for a Legal Ruling)

The problem:

Those 7 commissioners have not been present at the same meeting.

tennis1400 · #**2822** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 5:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sguil1

1031 Canal to go before Planning Commission Aug 9th.

www.1031canal.com

Good they should have done that originally!

tennis1400 · #**2823** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 5:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolacat157

Joy Theatre has new owners, renovation plans
by CityBusiness staff reports

July 15th, 2011 · No Comments · Blog
According to a release from The McDonnel Group, a Metairie construction firm, the Joy Theatre on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans, which has been closed since 2003, has new owners who are planning to reopen the venue by early next year.

The buyers are NOLA Theatre District LLC, which is made up of local businessmen Neal Hixon, Joe Jaeger, Allan McDonnel, and Todd Trosclair.

“The renovation and reopening of the Joy Theatre is a critical component to the revitalization of this area of Canal Street,” said Allan McDonnel, McDonnel Group president. “The timing of the project is crucial as well with the development of the Jung Hotel and surrounding sites, University Hospital and VA Hospital projects, the new streetcar extension, several residential and hotel projects currently in development in the nearby vicinity, and of course the reopening of the Saenger Theatre just across Canal Street.”

According to the statement, the project will use “a variety of tax incentives including state and federal historic tax credits and Louisiana Live Performance District Tax Credits.

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...ovation-plans/

Todds a friend of mine so Ill ask and see what the exact plans are if there are any yet. These folks get things done so this is very exciting for the Theatre Disitrict.

tennis1400 · #**2824** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 5:45 PM**

Good news here:
A regional leader in disaster management and recovery announced today it will acquire a North Shore engineering firm and relocate its home base to New Orleans.

Disaster Recovery Consultants, a Tampa, Fla.-based disaster consultancy, will merge with Cooper Engineering Inc. of Mandeville, a 20-year-old civil and structural engineering firm.http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...new-home-base/

Nolacat157 · #**2825** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 5:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Todds a friend of mine so Ill ask and see what the exact plans are if there are any yet. These folks get things done so this is very exciting for the Theatre Disitrict.

Yeah I was skeptical until I saw the names of the people involved too. Hixon said last year that they werent going to make an annoucement until they were ready to kick off the construction. It sounds like thats the case if they plan to be open for Q112.

tennis1400 · #**2826** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 5:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolacat157

Yeah I was skeptical until I saw the names of the people involved too. Hixon said last year that they werent going to make an annoucement until they were ready to kick off the construction. It sounds like thats the case if they plan to be open for Q112.

Yeah this wont be another Orpheum Theatre fiasco. What is going on with that btw? The owner sounds super sketchy!!!

On Another note I saw that there is a new proposal going around that says that any building requesting a land use change will be required to post a large sign with a rendering of the propsal on said parcel. What do you guys think of this?

Also this is great news for the Lakefront area: They are rebuilding the lighthouse that was destroyed; Heres the building permit!

Work Location 8001 LAKESHORE DR
NEW ORLEANS LA 70124
Project Description:
NEW CONSTRUCTION OF A 3 STORY 1263 S.F. CANAL LIGHTHOUSE MUSEUM AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER AS PER PLANS,ORD.23370 AND ORLEANS LEVEE BOARD APPROVAL.
$410,000

Just got a response on facebook about South Market District. Says they are still on track to break ground end of this year or first quarter 2012.

sguil1 · #**2827** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 8:36 PM**

Great news on the Joy. If the city council has enough sense to approve 1031 canal, that would be a great trifecta for that area along with the saenger.

tennis1400 · #**2828** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 8:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sguil1

Great news on the Joy. If the city council has enough sense to approve 1031 canal, that would be a great trifecta for that area along with the saenger.

Palmer said she is for the project just had an issue with the architecture, but I think its much better now and you cant hold a project hostage because the board never has enough members show up! City Planning will be the big fight so we need to show our support! If I have to be at City Hall that day Ill stay for the meeting to show support!

midcity · #**2829** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 9:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameron70115

I'd be really interested to know the square footage of Charity, compared to the square footage of all city offices (City Hall plus other office space around the city). I just looked at the satellite view of Charity on Google Maps, and it really is enormous. Maybe it would make sense to only preserve the front of the building, and bulldoze the wings on the back side? Or hell, just leave them vacant and if the economy ever really heats up, they could be turned into office space of some kind. Isn't it less expensive to renovate Charity into City Hall than it would be to build an entirely new building? Am I mistaken?

The numbers that were quoted when the idea was being tossed around was that Charity is about 1 million square feet and the city needs less than 400,000 square feet. So that is why I commented on the size because the city would take up less than half the building. That would be a lot of space to find other uses for. Again, I'm not against it and on the surface it seems like a good idea, but I'm guessing there would be a lot of people against the city taking on such a big building that would require such a massive renovation. It might be less expensive than building a new building, but does it still make sense? A 1 million sq.ft. building for a city of 350,000 seems extroadinary. Perhaps tearing down the ancillary wings would help. And I'm not sure how good of a property manager the City would be for the rest of the building.

midcity · #**2830** Posted **Jul 15, 2011, 9:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolacat157

Joy Theatre has new owners, renovation plans
by CityBusiness staff reports

July 15th, 2011 · No Comments · Blog
According to a release from The McDonnel Group, a Metairie construction firm, the Joy Theatre on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans, which has been closed since 2003, has new owners who are planning to reopen the venue by early next year.

The buyers are NOLA Theatre District LLC, which is made up of local businessmen Neal Hixon, Joe Jaeger, Allan McDonnel, and Todd Trosclair.

“The renovation and reopening of the Joy Theatre is a critical component to the revitalization of this area of Canal Street,” said Allan McDonnel, McDonnel Group president. “The timing of the project is crucial as well with the development of the Jung Hotel and surrounding sites, University Hospital and VA Hospital projects, the new streetcar extension, several residential and hotel projects currently in development in the nearby vicinity, and of course the reopening of the Saenger Theatre just across Canal Street.”

According to the statement, the project will use “a variety of tax incentives including state and federal historic tax credits and Louisiana Live Performance District Tax Credits.

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...ovation-plans/

What is being developed at the Jung Hotel? Either I didn't know there was a project planned or I have forgotten.

ardecila · #**2831** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 1:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameron70115

I'd be really interested to know the square footage of Charity, compared to the square footage of all city offices (City Hall plus other office space around the city). I just looked at the satellite view of Charity on Google Maps, and it really is enormous. Maybe it would make sense to only preserve the front of the building, and bulldoze the wings on the back side? Or hell, just leave them vacant and if the economy ever really heats up, they could be turned into office space of some kind. Isn't it less expensive to renovate Charity into City Hall than it would be to build an entirely new building? Am I mistaken?

My position has always been clear... City Hall needs to return to Gallier Hall on Lafayette Square.

midcity · #**2832** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 4:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

My position has always been clear... City Hall needs to return to Gallier Hall on Lafayette Square.

That would be awesome, except that it wouldn't provide the 400,000 sq. ft. so the city would still need another building.

ardecila · #**2833** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 4:39 AM**

Yep, and there's a huge parking lot at Poydras/Carondelet, directly behind Gallier Hall. The city could put up a 6-8 story office building on Poydras with a slick modern look, and then use Gallier Hall to host City Council meetings, committee meetings, and other important functions.

Nolacat157 · #**2834** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 6:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Just got a response on facebook about South Market District. Says they are still on track to break ground end of this year or first quarter 2012.

In the real estate transactions today WWL sold their property to SoMa for $6.2 million. Looks like this project is on track.

sguil1 · #**2835** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 7:43 PM**

good news. was beginning to get nervous, hadn't heard any updates on the project.

Uptowngirl · #**2836** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 9:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by midcity

That would be awesome, except that it wouldn't provide the 400,000 sq. ft. so the city would still need another building.

Like someone once said, move city hall back to Gallier Hall. If it doesn't fit...we didn't need it anyhow.

Blitzen · #**2837** Posted **Jul 16, 2011, 11:22 PM**

Looks like Tulane is still serious about building a new 25-30k seat stadium on campus:

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf...or_rick_4.html

And honestly I keep looking at the Bing map of the campus and I don't see 30k seats going where that practice field is... Especially since they're landlocked with the new tennis/basketball courts. That was bad planning to build those first.

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=nzq...LA&form=LMLTCC

cameron70115 · #**2838** Posted **Jul 17, 2011, 3:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzen

And honestly I keep looking at the Bing map of the campus and I don't see 30k seats going where that practice field is

It needs to be a really skinny stadium. Since it's only going to hold 30,000, maybe it could only have a grandstand on one side, plus endzone seats. But that'd be a shame. Maybe they'll have to build the other sideline grandstand on top of the edge of the basketball practice facility, and rip out 2 of the tennis courts.

By the way, as a Tulane grad I can say this is a visionary and needed plan for Tulane sports. If the team keeps playing at the dome forever, they may as well just give up.

ardecila · #**2839** Posted **Jul 17, 2011, 3:41 AM**

The new basketball practice facility includes provisions for grandstands to be built on its west side.

Also, I believe the track will be removed, and track meets moved off-campus (possibly to Gormley). That will provide much more room on the sidelines.

You're correct that the stadium will need to be shoe-horned in, but I think there is room. The article compared it to SMU's stadium, which seats 30k and looks gigantic in aerial photos. I'm not sure Tulane's stadium will ever be like that.

The big unknown is whether the people on Audubon will throw a fit if Tulane erects giant grandstands and decides to hold football games practically in their backyard.

Former Tulane Stadium:

flickr/infrogmation

tennis1400 · #**2840** Posted **Jul 17, 2011, 5:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

The new basketball practice facility includes provisions for grandstands to be built on its west side.

Also, I believe the track will be removed, and track meets moved off-campus (possibly to Gormley). That will provide much more room on the sidelines.

You're correct that the stadium will need to be shoe-horned in, but I think there is room. The article compared it to SMU's stadium, which seats 30k and looks gigantic in aerial photos. I'm not sure Tulane's stadium will ever be like that.

The big unknown is whether the people on Audubon will throw a fit if Tulane erects giant grandstands and decides to hold football games practically in their backyard.

Former Tulane Stadium:

flickr/infrogmation

I guess the zoning department could say the stadium is a historic use. I do agree that they need to get a stadium back on that campus. It was always a mistake when they got rid of it.