NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[NOLADevelopmentFan]

Originally Posted by SlidellWx

The GE announcement is huge in the fact that it signals to other major national companies that it's safe to have offices here again. I was also heartened to read that it was a team effort from local, state, and federal dignataries. That's how things are supposed to work. Hoping we'll see more these announcements down the road.

The importance of this deal cannot be understated. GE is not just coming here for the tax credits and gov't incentives, they are coming here because they want to be a part of the story about the New Orleans renaissance.

GE will promote New Orleans and do it in a way that nobody else can. If the Ochsner CEO can help bring GE, imagine who GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt will help bring to New Orleans.

[tennis1400]

Slightly off topic but I think its time we start gathering signatures to amend state constitution to allow at least 5 land based casinos in orleans parish and that no single operator can own more than two of those licenses. Harrahs is horrible and its because they have a monopoly! I think it would be a great boon to have 4 additional casinos. What do you guys think?

[THE BIG APPLE]

The GE move is big but they don't need that much space. They could just lease a couple of floors in a building, this move won't require them to build themselves a new building (because 50k sq ft is an appox 25 FOOT building, or 2-3 floors.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Slightly off topic but I think its time we start gathering signatures to amend state constitution to allow at least 5 land based casinos in orleans parish and that no single operator can own more than two of those licenses. Harrahs is horrible and its because they have a monopoly! I think it would be a great boon to have 4 additional casinos. What do you guys think?

All downtown casinos are horrible. If we had 4 more of them, they would continue to be Vegas-esque, anti-pedestrian hellholes. I saw some in Europe that were fairly small, built into the upper floors of a historic building. I don't think we can get this in NOLA, though - it's the holy grail of downtown casino backers.

The question has been explored several times in Chicago, and it hasn't worked out because casino operators want control over every facet of their building, they want some gigantic porte-cochere, they want a hotel tower, and they want to keep all entertainment/dining contained within the casino, so there's not much spillover into the surrounding city.

If New Orleans wants to add additional casinos out east, or develop a full-fledged casino at Fair Grounds, that sounds much more acceptable to me.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by NOLADevelopmentFan

The importance of this deal cannot be understated. GE is not just coming here for the tax credits and gov't incentives, they are coming here because they want to be a part of the story about the New Orleans renaissance.

GE will promote New Orleans and do it in a way that nobody else can. If the Ochsner CEO can help bring GE, imagine who GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt will help bring to New Orleans.

While we pat ourselves on the back, I think we need to explore how to retain these corporations in the city. It's not as simple as lowering taxes - New Orleans will always be an expensive place to do business regardless of the tax levels, because that's how cities work.

Cities need to be responsive to business concerns, though, and they need to offer an attractive lifestyle. Fortunately IMO this city offers the best lifestyle in the South - slower-paced than Atlanta, more beautiful than Houston, and more exciting than anywhere else.

Now we need to get City Hall to get behind corporate growth and start accommodating businesses. All of my experiences with City Hall have shown a city government that is paralyzed to many citizen concerns and absolutely closed to new ideas. At least under Mitch we don't have a new scandal every week, but that's not enough. I don't want to see GE leave the city in 5 or 6 years, so this needs to change.

[THE BIG APPLE]

Why does a city of such class and 'relaxation' (no pun intended), have casinos. All of them are horrible especially the ones close to the Louisiana (mercedes) Superdome. The only good one is next to the Convention Center (imo), I think it's Harrah's, on Poydras/Canal Street.

[tennis1400]

I liked the idea of allowing large existing hotels to have casinos in them. I think it can be done and done nicely. Also, think the Munincipal Auditorium would be a great place to have one.

[conarten11]

More casino's are the worst possible idea for NOLA. Having one casino is good: it fills a need in the population that would go elsewhere to get it, brings in good tax money, and fills a niche for tourists.

But, i believe the big problem with this city is that it has been focused almost exclusively on tourism. with the historic charm, the unique local culture, myriad of festivals, and plethora of entertainment options, it has enough of a draw to attract tourists. Does it really need a small scale model of the Eiffel tower of statue of liberty on Canal to attract people?

the city is at a crossroads, trying to reinvent itself. If this city wants to be more than just a place people visit for a weekend to get drunk in and then leave, it needs to be focus more on attracting companies like GE and promoting the expansion of local upstarts. New Orleans has the potential to be the next Austin (and deserves to be), not just a humid Las Vegas.

tourism is good, don't get me wrong, but the people who would come for better casinos are already flooding MSY. this city needs to work to attract the other types of tourists: the business travel who doesn't check the price of the meal before ordering because the company is paying, the intercultural tourist who wants authenticity not just trite tourist traps, the luxury tourist who wants to be pampered.

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by conarten11

More casino's are the worst possible idea for NOLA. Having one casino is good: it fills a need in the population that would go elsewhere to get it, brings in good tax money, and fills a niche for tourists.

But, i believe the big problem with this city is that it has been focused almost exclusively on tourism. with the historic charm, the unique local culture, myriad of festivals, and plethora of entertainment options, it has enough of a draw to attract tourists. Does it really need a small scale model of the Eiffel tower of statue of liberty on Canal to attract people?

the city is at a crossroads, trying to reinvent itself. If this city wants to be more than just a place people visit for a weekend to get drunk in and then leave, it needs to be focus more on attracting companies like GE and promoting the expansion of local upstarts. New Orleans has the potential to be the next Austin (and deserves to be), not just a humid Las Vegas.

tourism is good, don't get me wrong, but the people who would come for better casinos are already flooding MSY. this city needs to work to attract the other types of tourists: the business travel who doesn't check the price of the meal before ordering because the company is paying, the intercultural tourist who wants authenticity not just trite tourist traps, the luxury tourist who wants to be pampered.

Direct flights to Mexico, Cuba, Central America, and South America would help.

[THE BIG APPLE]

I'd say New Orleans NEEDS a better airport.

[Chris from N.O.]

Does anybody have any updates on the hospital projects? I pass by there almost daily, but don't see much in the way of progress.

[ardecila]

LSU: They relocated the high-tension wires that cross the LSU site, so now they can bring in the massive amount of pile drivers to lay the foundations for the complex. (The pile-drivers are too tall to pass beneath the wires). I saw one out there the other day, probably doing test piles. I'm still waiting for the Grand Palace to be imploded. I'm guessing they're waiting until after Mardi Gras so the debris from the implosion doesn't foul up the parades on Canal.

I think part of the delay is that the design team needs to complete the plans. They've been discussing this project since Katrina, but funding only became available recently, and most architects and engineers don't work for free.

VA: On the VA site, they've repaved/widened Rocheblave and now they're renovating the Pan-Am Insurance building fairly rapidly. I also saw surveyors taking measurements and such at the Dixie Brewery.

If you're interested in more frequent updates about the VA project (which has dedicated funding lined up) the project team holds a 6pm meeting on the third Tuesday of every month at 2525 Canal. This month, the meeting was pushed back a week due to Mardi Gras - so it is Feb. 28th.

[ardecila]

Apparently it's more complicated than I thought.

The 6' of sand that was brought into the site is intended to mimic the weight of a building, so that when construction starts, the soil is already compressed and there's no danger of settlement later on. This compression takes some time - probably a few months of water percolating through the soil and joining it all together. Right now, I'm guessing that we're waiting for this compression to take place, and only small work is going on around the edges.

Once the soil has noticeably subsided, they can go in and grade the site to the proper flood elevation and it won't sink years down the road. Once they do rough grading, THEN they can start building the foundation. It's pretty complex/involved/costly, but for the amount of money us taxpayers are sinking into this thing, I want a building engineered for the long run - so many buildings in this city are not. The stable, compressed soil could potentially also translate into a lot less settlement under the pavement on the site, and water/sewer pipes that don't shatter underground and leak like a sieve.

[SlidellWx]

Thanks for the updates on the hospitals ardeclia. Hoping they implode the Grand Palace within in the next couple of weeks. The Final Four will be in town in late March, and then festival season begins. There is a small window to bring the building down.

[polemic]

I know everyone on this board is probably off celebrating Mardi Gras, but here in Miami, it's just called "Tuesday" (ok, really it's probably more aptly called 'Martes'). But I wanted to draw your attention to two interesting articles touching on New Orleans as a model to other cities on how to build a cultural identity. Although I agree with both articles that New Orleans is unique in its strong identity, I think that we're all familiar with the downsides of such a strong identity - particularly one tied to vice - it scares off major corporations, particularly when it's coupled with crime + corruption which seem to inexorably follow vice.

http://www.urbanophile.com/2012/02/1...lle-vice-city/

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/art...identity/1285/

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by polemic

I know everyone on this board is probably off celebrating Mardi Gras, but here in Miami, it's just called "Tuesday" (ok, really it's probably more aptly called 'Martes'). But I wanted to draw your attention to two interesting articles touching on New Orleans as a model to other cities on how to build a cultural identity. Although I agree with both articles that New Orleans is unique in its strong identity, I think that we're all familiar with the downsides of such a strong identity - particularly one tied to vice - it scares off major corporations, particularly when it's coupled with crime + corruption which seem to inexorably follow vice.

http://www.urbanophile.com/2012/02/1...lle-vice-city/

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/art...identity/1285/

Yeah, most of us are probably right now. But I just got home, so I have some time to post... I liked the second article more than the first. The first seems to misunderstand that there are layers and layers of nuance to the culture here that would take eons to replicate.


Oh, and

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

Yeah, most of us are probably right now. But I just got home, so I have some time to post... I liked the second article more than the first. The first seems to misunderstand that there are layers and layers of nuance to the culture here that would take eons to replicate.


Oh, and

Yeah its nearly impossible to replicate the culture of a city like new orleans. Its a result of a multitude of things both tangible and intangible. Things ranging from geography weather and even elevation.

[Foley Santamaria]

Originally Posted by ardecila

If New Orleans wants to add develop a full-fledged casino at Fair Grounds, that sounds much more acceptable to me.

Never will happen. FSJNA already hates the grounds and would kill any expansion plans quickly.

Happy Mardi Gras! City looks great.

[ardecila]

That's a shame. A casino there would have virtually no spillover into the adjacent neighborhood, since it could use many of the existing facilities, and there's already easy access and parking. A new casino downtown would probably be an anti-pedestrian hellhole, whereas at the Fair Grounds it would be little different than the status quo. They could close off the access to Esplanade and open a new one to Desaix, if traffic is a problem. Access from the south would be pedestrian-only.

I'm not averse to new casinos (we could use the revenue) but I don't think they should be the centerpiece of a tourism strategy and I don't think they should be downtown. In fact, an outlying neighborhood is perfect, since it allows the casino to be completely self-contained.

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all. I spent the day checking out all the Indians - plus I got a coconut.

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by ardecila

I'm not averse to new casinos (we could use the revenue) but I don't think they should be the centerpiece of a tourism strategy and I don't think they should be downtown. In fact, an outlying neighborhood is perfect, since it allows the casino to be completely self-contained.

Congrats on another successful Mardi Gras!

Regarding any new casino, I honestly think the best location for a new one is where the main post office is on Loyola Avenue, for the following reasons:

1. It's close to everything, without being a pedestrian unfriendly, superblock.
2. It would be on the streetcar line and next to the interstate.
3. It would mutually benefit the Superdome/Arena/Champions Square/ Hyatt complex. Parking could also be shared with the Dome/Champions Garage.
4. It would definitely help build up that vacant corner of the CBD, (certainly helping the Plaza Tower development).
5. There is plenty of open space.
6. There are no neighbors to bother.
7. It's additional buffer between the Fisher housing projects and the tourist areas.
8. Being directly next to the Union Passenger Terminal, it might encourage tourists from TX, MS, AR, TN, MO, AL, to take the train to NOLA because it would almost take them directly to this casino in a few stops for a few bucks.

The next best locations I can think of would be 1. the enormous Riverwalk Parking lot with the Whale painting on the side. 2. the old VA hospital site next to the Old Charity building.