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  #361  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2009, 10:18 PM
djp4lsu djp4lsu is offline
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The last time I rode thru that area it hardly resembled an "intact neighborhood" but one of our many decaying neighborhoods with little hope of improvement. I'm sorry but it really is a dumpy area. Preserve Dixie and the German haus...tha't a good idea.

Maybe with the new VA hospital and maybe Charity the surrounding area will be seen as more viable and be salvageable..thereby preserving some of our unique areas and inducing investment and maybe even creating an area people would actually want to live in. You can't have this vibrant city you want to live in by continually poo=pooing projects with this NIMBY attitude many have. We have to come to the realization that much of our housing stock in this city and the neoghborhoods they reside are places most people with any means would never want to live much less raise a family in. We will also have to realize that some of the decay/cancer will have to be cut out and new seeds planted to preserve at least some of what we have.

I'm not sure what the planning of the 1960's had to do with Iberville or Magnolia.
I agree. That "neighborhood" is really not a good area, and it was hit hard from Katrina. I've heard so many people say something like it's a "wholesale destruction of an entire neighborhood" and such over and over, but to say that in my opinion is a HUGE overstatement. How many shotgun houses does one city need? If we want to really save this city, e've got to start making things easier for developers. That's the only way we'll get new ideas going.

I'm not saying that we should just tear down anything anytime, but I think a project of this magnitude would justify the damage. These hospitals deserve modern facilities, but if we don't build it here, where would it go? It's not like there's just tons of empty land sufficient to construct a hospital on. But I guess that's my question: if not this plan, then where else would be better?

Thanks for the info on the Walgreens/Robert's, guys.
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  #362  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2009, 8:04 AM
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How many shotgun houses does one city need? If we want to really save this city, we've got to start making things easier for developers. That's the only way we'll get new ideas going.
What do developers have to do with this? Both VA and Charity are government organizations planning to use Federal money to tear down neighborhoods. The private sector isn't involved, and last time I checked, Louisiana is a GREAT state in which to do business, with little regulation and GO Zone bonds handed out like candy. All New Orleans needs is a clear zoning and building approval process, and, you know, a market of people who WANT to live here.

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I'm not saying that we should just tear down anything anytime, but I think a project of this magnitude would justify the damage. These hospitals deserve modern facilities, but if we don't build it here, where would it go? It's not like there's just tons of empty land sufficient to construct a hospital on. But I guess that's my question: if not this plan, then where else would be better?
I dunno - how about on some of the many, many vacant lots? (shown in green) Also, why the hell do these hospitals need SO MUCH land? The new sites are at least 4 times the previous sites. Like in any dense city, these hospitals need to be more conservative with land, and build upward.
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  #363  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2009, 11:18 PM
sguil1 sguil1 is offline
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I definately agree with building upward. Right now the charity plan calls for a 6 story hospital
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  #364  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 7:39 AM
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NORTA is planning 3 new streetcar projects in and around the CBD. Oddly, the T-P hasn't said anything about it. The total cost is estimated around $160 million, or about $22 million per mile of track.

The first is a French Quarter Loop, using Rampart/St. Claude and Elysian Fields to form a circle when combined with the Canal Street and Riverfront lines. There's also a spur down St. Claude to Press Street, which I'm convinced is a leftover from the canceled Desire project.



Then there's a Loyola Avenue line between Canal Street and Union Passenger Terminal.



Finally, there's a single-track loop on Convention Center Boulevard, which is really designed to bring people from the FQ to the Warehouse District hotels.



Personally, I hope these new lines can use modern streetcars. The vintage ones on St. Charles and the reproductions on Canal and Riverfront are nice, but they don't belong in modern areas like Poydras Plaza and the Warehouse District. New, modern ones can be bought for far less than it would cost to build more reproductions, and they look awesome.


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  #365  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 11:22 PM
sguil1 sguil1 is offline
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Great idea, especially the convention center line. I remember reading an article about this. I believe the project will qualify for a government public transportation grant.


Also an update on the chevron building, the city councit have voted against buying it for the new city hall.

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/vi...cfm?recid=1441
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  #366  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2009, 12:00 AM
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St. Charles streetcar line

Has anyone ever suggested connecting the St. Charles streetcar line with the Canal St. line by simply having it procede north up Carrolton to the intersection of Canal and North Carrolton? Seems like a good idea to me.
The tourists, or whomever, could then have access to the whole loop without having to backtrack down St. Charles to get back downtown.


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  #367  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2009, 7:38 AM
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^^ Yes, it's in long-term plans, but there's an engineering challenge that would make such a line very expensive. It's created by the Carrollton interchange, where the streetcar line would need to cross over or under the Amtrak line leading to the UPT. There isn't enough clearance under the highway to allow for a streetcar overpass, so it will probably need to go underneath the Amtrak line - hugely expensive in New Orleans' soil. A similar issue with a rail crossing sank the planned Desire streetcar before Katrina.

Not sure what to think about the City Hall decision. Neither the old building nor the Chevron building is really adequate. A temporary move to the Chevron building would allow for a massive renovation of the current City Hall that would modernize and flood-proof it, however.

I'm really fed up with the whole thing. Can't they just move back to Gallier Hall?
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  #368  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2009, 4:46 PM
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Re new streetcar lines: I saw somewhere a couple months back in the TP or CityBusiness (can't remember which one now) that the city was considering these lines, but they only had the money to construct one of them. They were trying to decide which to build. The Loyola loop's advantage was that it would connect to the UPT for people riding busses and trains to connect with downtown, while the Convention Center line would benefit, obviously, people going to conventions who may not have cars, and the French Quarter loop would benefit people living in the Bywater who work in the hospitality industry downtown.

Re Chevron building: I'm sort of glad that the council didn't go for it. I know it's a nice building and all, but I'd sure like to see building in a more prominent location, maybe with some more monumental architecture.
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  #369  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2009, 11:24 PM
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Dominion tower deal to close soon with Benson. Very interesting idea in the article that I've never heard before is actually demolishing the shopping mall and develop a large open space with multi-media screens ect. I think this would be a great idea since a mall in that area is not going to do that well except for gamedays. They are also asking for multiple developers to submit different plans and renderings.

"The initial idea, Thornton said, is to demolish the mall to create an open space with giant multimedia screens that could be used for festivities at Saints and Hornets games, special sports events such as the Final Four, and the Essence Music Festival.

The former Macy's department building at the mall would be left in tact and used as a flexible space for temporary retail or corporate hospitality events."

http://blog.nola.com/tpmoney/2009/07...on_to_com.html
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  #370  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2009, 5:30 AM
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Originally Posted by djp4lsu View Post
Re new streetcar lines: I saw somewhere a couple months back in the TP or CityBusiness (can't remember which one now) that the city was considering these lines, but they only had the money to construct one of them. They were trying to decide which to build. The Loyola loop's advantage was that it would connect to the UPT for people riding busses and trains to connect with downtown, while the Convention Center line would benefit, obviously, people going to conventions who may not have cars, and the French Quarter loop would benefit people living in the Bywater who work in the hospitality industry downtown.
Each project can be submitted through the FTA's Small Starts process, where it could receive up to $75 million from the Feds. There has to be a local funding match, but that can come from the state or the city, or even a public-private partnership.
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  #371  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2009, 1:45 PM
sguil1 sguil1 is offline
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More funding for new projects in city park. I was there last week and they have started on the great lawn project.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...ll_get_43.html
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  #372  
Old Posted Aug 2, 2009, 3:02 AM
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Medical Arts Pavillion: North Shore/Covington




Stirling announces the development of the Medical Arts Pavilion at Lakeview Regional Medical Center

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

COVINGTON, Louisiana - Stirling Properties announces the development of the Medical Arts Pavilion at Lakeview Regional Medical Center in Covington. Located at Fairway Drive and Highway 190, the two, 3-story, 60,000 square foot Class A medical office buildings will be the newest medical office complex in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The official ground breaking ceremony is slated for early September.
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  #373  
Old Posted Aug 3, 2009, 2:47 AM
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Forgive me if I don't care about anything getting built on the North Shore... it's just another reason for people to move across the lake.
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  #374  
Old Posted Aug 4, 2009, 2:34 AM
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How in the world is new orleans still growing? Im all for growth and densification of the city but I would have thought that after the hurricane developers would have kinda abandoned all hope for the city. Especially since sea levels are rising and New Orleans is pretty much screwed in that regard. Im amazed that anyone would risk any new developments in such an environmentally fragile city.
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  #375  
Old Posted Aug 4, 2009, 3:25 AM
sguil1 sguil1 is offline
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With a few hundred million $ put into the levee system NOLA is as safe as its ever been. As for investing in the city, development is at a high right now. I guess you haven't factored in certain intagibles that many cities (probably yours) don't have. Culture, world renown music and food, historic preservation, and an all around spirit or vibe. Not to mention great, welcoming people. Apparently a ton of investors do see all that. You should come down and visit, you would have a great time!
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  #376  
Old Posted Aug 4, 2009, 4:27 AM
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How in the world is new orleans still growing? Im all for growth and densification of the city but I would have thought that after the hurricane developers would have kinda abandoned all hope for the city. Especially since sea levels are rising and New Orleans is pretty much screwed in that regard. Im amazed that anyone would risk any new developments in such an environmentally fragile city.
It's not quite as rosy as sguil1 makes it look, but there indeed many positive things happening in the city, if you're willing to look past the scarcity of new construction in the office and retail markets. There's even been a boomlet of residential construction along Tulane Avenue, and several large housing projects are being rebuilt as traditionally-scaled neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods like Lakeview and Gentilly are coming back in full force, as homes are fixed up and new ones are built on the vacant lots.

Equally important is a slow trickle of shops and restaurants that are re-opening or starting new, at least in traditional growth areas like the CBD, Uptown, and Mid-City.

The huge problem, of course, is the recession, which could not have come at a worse time vis-a-vis the post-Katrina rebuilding. Local banks are able and often willing to make loans to small local businesses, like shops, restaurants, and small home renovators, but large-scale development requires large, national banks, who are extremely reluctant to lend at the moment.

Because of this, there are only a small handful of large developments that have been built since Katrina. But the citizens are eager to see the city rebuild, and the only source of capital for development right now is government. The Times-Picayune is filled with stories about civic construction projects, from the Charity-VA hospital proposal to the relocation of City Hall to road rebuilding and various improvements to City Park.

Since this is taxpayer money going to these projects, there is an immense amount of controversy and political gridlock, fueled by a growing disgust for the city's elected officials. Hopefully with the election of a new mayor in the spring, things will get moving again (Nagin is term-limited, so he can't seek re-election).

Regarding the levee system: I would like to add that, while construction has been ongoing at a furious pace since Katrina, the system probably won't be complete until 2012, and it is only designed to protect against 100-year storms. Another 500-year storm like Katrina would still do a decent amount of damage in the city, but there would not be the widespread failures that occurred in 2005.
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  #377  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2009, 8:11 PM
sguil1 sguil1 is offline
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Passenger rail between BR and NO could be built by 2013...

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/up...fm?recid=26139

Arbitration between FEMA and Charity hospital set for August 31st. Could finally get a decision on this issue.

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/up...fm?recid=26141
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  #378  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2009, 8:41 PM
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1770 Tchoupitoulas

Overview:

Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corporation (RNDC) acquired 1770 Tchoupitoulas for the development of up to 240 mixed-income rental units in a structure overlooking the Mississippi River. This development would provide high quality housing for persons working in New Orleans’ office support, restaurant and hospitality industries located in the central core. The project could also provide some related commercial space on the site.

Description:

This 90,000 SF site is located adjacent to the Mississippi River, at the foot of Felicity Drive, in the lower Garden District of New Orleans. Currently, the site is occupied by a vacant office building, and two warehouse structures, most of which would be demolished to accommodate the redevelopment. It is closely situated to commercial services, with a Wal-Mart Supercenter located two blocks to the southwest. Bus service along Tchoupitoulas offers immediate access to workforce jobs in the central business district. Further, land along the River has among the highest elevations in New Orleans, and experienced no flooding during Hurricane Katrina.







Slide show and PDF with much better images...Looks like the plans call for a 12 story building topping out at about 120 feet.

http://rndcnola.org/projectpage.php?links=1770_zq
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  #379  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2009, 12:06 AM
djp4lsu djp4lsu is offline
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Originally Posted by photolitherland View Post
How in the world is new orleans still growing? Im all for growth and densification of the city but I would have thought that after the hurricane developers would have kinda abandoned all hope for the city. Especially since sea levels are rising and New Orleans is pretty much screwed in that regard. Im amazed that anyone would risk any new developments in such an environmentally fragile city.
I don't see how anyone could just abandon New Orleans any more than anyone could abandon NYC or Chicago or Los Angeles or any other major city with rich culture, history, and tradition. You can't just abandon people's homes and livelihood.

BTW, how much has the sea level risen lately?? Environmentally fragile...

Don't forget, Chicago got destroyed once too.
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  #380  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2009, 7:11 AM
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Looks fantastic. Bring it on.

Wayne Troyer does really good work, for what it's worth.
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