NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[ardecila]

Yea... Unfortunately almost all the garages in this city are butt ugly. The only one I like is at Camp/Gravier. It doesn't have any retail or active use, but it has a really dynamic sculptural design that looks futuristic. The architecture is good enough that it doesn't need retail space; the sheer dynamism is enough to liven up the street.

Of course, that garage also has a tiny footprint, so it doesn't create a huge dead zone.

New garages should NOT use fake facades plastered onto the front. It's not fooling anybody. Plus, our city is not Disneyland. Everything here should be authentic, not fake.

I also like the two 1960s garages; one is on Iberville and Treme(?) and the other one's at Iberville/Rampart. They have no facades; they're completely open with tension cable railings to keep cars from going off the edge. They're in terrible condition, though, and they could use some serious TLC.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

I don't know if this website is new, or if I'm just seeing it for the first time, but at least it includes a timetable for completion of this phase of the park.

http://www.nola.gov/RESIDENTS/reinventingthecrescent

Mar-12 Meadow Plantings, Park Landscape
Apr-12 Parking Lots, Lighting/Striping
May-12 Park Furnishings
Jul-12 Substantial Completion
Sep-12 Targeted Grand Opening

I don't know if that schedule is still accurate or realistic. If it was, then we'd see a massive pedestrian bridge taking shape at the foot of Elysian Fields and a smaller bridge at Piety. From what I can tell, they're nowhere close to that point. They haven't even built the foundations to support the bridge.

Kristen Palmer is hosting a meeting about the park progress this coming Wednesday at 6pm in the Healing Center's Cafe Istanbul. I'm not sure if I can go yet, but somebody should. The design team and city officials will be present.

[tennis1400]

Permit Pulled today for Audubon Hotel Building on St Charles Avenue:
Record 12COM-00344 :

Commercial Renovation (Non-Structural)
Work Location 1225 ST CHARLES AVE
NEW ORLEANS LA 70130

Project Description:
Renovate a vacant building into a 28 room hotel as per plans.
Owner:
BONQUOIS PROPERTIES, LLC
5776 FORSYTHIA AVENUE
BATON ROUGE LA 70808
Job Value($):
$1,800,000.00

Also another hotel renovation permit(Hampton Inn):
Record 12COM-00343 :
Commercial Change of Use
Work Location 226 CARONDELET ST
NEW ORLEANS LA 70112

Project Description:
Renovations in existing Hotel: convert existing offices on 2nd and 3rd floors to 23 additional quest rooms; remodel existing rooms on each of 4th thru 7th floor. All work as per plans.


Ochsner's Sign up at Benson Tower:



Job Value($):
$1,500,000.00

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Anyone have any interesting parking mid rises they have seen that have blended in well with nearby historic areas?

http://designinghealthycommunities.o...arking-garage/

These people turn the tops of parking garages into greenhouses, producing 20x the amount of food per acre than a normal field. Not only would a greenhouse cap off the building (if done well) but the food could be sold at the Farmer's Market a block away. Talk about keeping money in the community! :

[NOLAmike]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

http://designinghealthycommunities.o...arking-garage/

These people turn the tops of parking garages into greenhouses, producing 20x the amount of food per acre than a normal field. Not only would a greenhouse cap off the building (if done well) but the food could be sold at the Farmer's Market a block away. Talk about keeping money in the community! :

There's a New Orleans company that does that as well....here's the link to their website. Then you'd really be keeping money in the community

http://www.ampsnola.com/

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by NOLAmike

There's a New Orleans company that does that as well....here's the link to their website. Then you'd really be keeping money in the community

http://www.ampsnola.com/

This is awesome and I hope they use it in the design of the garage.

[Blitzen]

I remember reading when the project was first proposed, and the VA/State were to share the same lot, this park was going to be refurbished and preserved... guess that changed. Not a huge blow to the city, but as Tulane continues to grow and densify, it would be nice to protect a little greenspace.


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

[ISIS]

Yahoo--on the Audubon Hotel permits being pulled! I'm all for more activity along that stretch of St. Charles Ave.

[NOLAmike]

Hey guys...I heard from a reliable source that next week Google is going to announce an office in New Orleans next week....its going to being something like an "Office for Entrepreneur Activity" or something to that effect. Maybe we can start to get other tech companies to do the same so we can speed up development here. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by NOLAmike

Hey guys...I heard from a reliable source that next week Google is going to announce an office in New Orleans next week....its going to being something like an "Office for Entrepreneur Activity" or something to that effect. Maybe we can start to get other tech companies to do the same so we can speed up development here. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Assuming that your source has accurate information, that is fantastic news.

[ardecila]

Woah, awesome.

Hopefully one of the many startups in NOLA right now will make it big and choose to stay rather than take their talents to Texas or California. We could use our own Groupon.

[mfastx]

Maybe they can finally get transit data for New Orleans on Google Transit.

[gospelbyjosh]

Finally decided to stop lurking...

I just noticed the construction for the new Festival Grounds in City Park. I'll take some pictures tomorrow, but it seems to be progressing pretty quickly.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by gospelbyjosh

Finally decided to stop lurking...

I just noticed the construction for the new Festival Grounds in City Park. I'll take some pictures tomorrow, but it seems to be progressing pretty quickly.

Thats great! Still unsure if Voodoo will be able to be held there this year or not.

[n3rdw0p]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Woah, awesome.

Hopefully one of the many startups in NOLA right now will make it big and choose to stay rather than take their talents to Texas or California. We could use our own Groupon.

We do have our own groupon, its called Fetchpuppy.com

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by n3rdw0p

We do have our own groupon, its called Fetchpuppy.com

I actually worked for FetchPuppy for a while, but I think he meant we need a "super startup"- the two that come closest to that are iSeatz and the Receivables Exchange.

[ardecila]

Right. Some company that makes it big, which a) becomes a large employer in the city and b) puts NOLA on the map as a startup-friendly place.

Keywell and Lefkofsky are actually the driving force behind Groupon, and they had a string of increasingly successful ventures before Groupon took off. You have to start somewhere, and NOLA is definitely starting on the right foot.

Anybody, anywhere can have an awesome idea, but usually they have to leave home in order to get funding, and then they might move again to find the talent they need. NOLA offers a great lifestyle with rich, appealing culture scenes and awesome urban fabric, so we can definitely attract talented people. We just need a few billionaires willing to take risks on new ideas.

Unfortunately it seems like political leaders here are still trapped in a 20th-century conception of what it takes to grow business, complete with a robust "dark side" of backroom deals, public subsidies and palm greasing.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by ardecila

We just need a few billionaires willing to take risks

Took the words right out of my mouth. Most people think that Silicon Valley is what it is because of Stanford and all the geeks running around, but the backbone of their economy is the large pool of venture capitalists and angel investors chomping at the bits to put their money to use in promising startups. I read an article in the weekend Wall Street Journal about New Orleans becoming a tech town- the author offered as evidence the fact that Idea Village had raised 2.7 million for startups in the last 10 years. I'm sorry, but that's one chicken mcnugget to the hundreds of seven-course meals, to make an excruciatingly bad analogy, when you are talking about the money flowing into tech in San Francisco, Austin, and Boston, the cities the writer said we are trying to emulate.

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Most people think that Silicon Valley is what it is because of Stanford and all the geeks running around, but the backbone of their economy is the large pool of venture capitalists and angel investors chomping at the bits to put their money to use in promising startups. I read an article in the weekend Wall Street Journal about New Orleans becoming a tech town- the author offered as evidence the fact that Idea Village had raised 2.7 million for startups in the last 10 years. I'm sorry, but that's one chicken mcnugget to the hundreds of seven-course meals, to make an excruciatingly bad analogy, when you are talking about the money flowing into tech in San Francisco, Austin, and Boston, the cities the writer said we are trying to emulate.

The thing that is going to help New Orleans is cost of living and I do think the media growth here can help attract startups more associated with those types of industries. Certainly hope the google news is true.

BTW has anyone heard anything about Disney possibly buying the Naval Support Facility in the Bywater?


Also its great to hear the city is getting serious about improving the taxicab industry!

http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/content/display.asp?id=54&nid={65DD6626-9B05-4A0E-8363-86BD720AD9ED}

[NYC Rick]

My name is Rick and I live in NYC. I have been in New York since 1980. I grew up in Salt Lake CITY BUT i LOVE NO.

I have worked with Terrance Blanchard and when he lived in NYC he was smoking. the difference was that Terrance added elegance to a city swamped with elegance. Hie had the tone, the humanity andthe definition...and he had a way out sence of humor. A true human being with real and focused definition. It is the groove of the music but Terrance lays the groove to the moment. Hey, I wandered by this site and I had to let you know that one of the artistic gifts beside Branford, and Wyton is definetly Terrance. This is a chapter of excellence.

Helol Terrance from Rick Stevenson