the levee

NY Times: Rental shortage in New Orleans continues

The NY  Times covers the rental shortage in New Orleans.  While the take-away is that it is unfortunate that rental rates have increased by 46% over pre-Katrina levels, it should be remembered, as the article states, that this situation exists because "demand is outpacing supply."

So, people want to live in New Orleans, but are constrained by high rental rates.  This is far preferable to a city that no one wants to live in with an oversupply of cheap housing (see Buffalo).  We can solve a shortage (theoretically), we wouldn't be able to solve an oversupply.  This is a positive, and we'll all just need to be patient while development and rehabilitation of affordable housing occurs.

Weekend / AM News :: Development Edition

The Governor of LA and Mayor Nagin are searching for a way to keep the DA's office running.  That doesn't mean they've necessarily spoken however.

Developers Angelo Farrell and Lee Laporte, in addition to renovating the existing Astor Hotel building on Royal Street in the French Quarter, are building a new 26-story, 259-foot tower on an adjacent site, which will house what sounds like 107 condominium-hotel units.  Construction is set to begin in early 2008, with completion scheduled for late 2009.  While this part of the Quarter is scattered with several 'mid-rises,' I believe this will be the tallest building in the neighborhood.  This development raises similar questions to that of the Tracage, though I'll withhold judgment until renderings of the new tower are made public. 

Are Victory Real Estate's plans for Mid-City on hold?  Speculation abounds, but no real answers.  Hopefully this doesn't disrupt the plans for the new Massey's near the Victory site.

KB Homes is scrapping future plans for New Orleans. 

The National League of Cities will meet in New Orleans this week.  The 3,500-member delegation will include mayors, police chiefs, and city council members from all points of the country.  Hopefully they can teach our own mayor, police chief, and city council one or two things about city governance (you have to smile at the headline: "U.S. mayors see N.O. as living lesson."  No kidding.)

The $3 billion Road Home bailout passed on Thursday.

Two New Orleans theaters are slated to be acquired and redeveloped.  The team behind the plan, Broadway South, LLC president Roger Wilson and local developer Neal Hixon, have put the Joy Theatre and State Palace Theater under option, and are in "ongoing negotiations" for Saenger and Orpheum theaters.  Wilson hopes to build a theater district in New Orleans centered around the Canal Street theaters, though he has said that he won't move forward unless he can get control of all four properties.

Dillard University breaks ground on a new academic building. 

The St. Charles streetcar is back, and is now running from Canal Street to Napoleon Avenue.  In related news, St. Charles was named one of the country's 'Best Streets' by American Planning Association, in recognition of the "role it has played as an icon of Southern style and charm, and its contributions to the cultural traditions of New Orleans."

New Development Profile :: The Tracage

As promised, here is a look at a new condo development going up in the Warehouse District, the Tracage, a 24-story, 136-unit development slated to break ground later this year at 1100 Annunciation Street.

The development team consists of Isis Development Group, Spectrum Capital, LLC, Yates Construction, Foil Wyatt Architects and Planners of Jackson, MS, and Trapolin Architects of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Principals involved in the transaction include Hattiesburg resident Rob Tatum (2005 Tulane MBA graduate) and Anthony “TJ” Iarocci of Isis Development Group, and Jason Voyles and Stephen King of Spectrum.

The principals are claiming that 70 percent of the units have been reserved (which requires a $10,000 fully refundable deposit).  The LEED-certified development is projected to be completed in late 2009, and is expected to cost approximately $60 million.  Standard units will have 10' to 11' ceilings, with floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies.  The development is loaded with many of the amenities du jour that similar developments across the country have (controlled access, rooftop infinity edge pool, fitness center in the common areas, granite counter tops and GE Profile appliances in the unit), and is in many ways a "development by numbers" project, though with only 136 units to absorb should be fairly successful.  The marketing campaign appears geared in part towards second home buyers.

The project is meant to evoke the traditional loft style found in the neighborhood, with references to 'Soho' and 'sophisticated urban living' littered throughout the promotional materials, though at a monstrous 24-stories and sheathed in steel and glass, it is more likely to evoke a building in downtown Miami or San Diego than a converted bakery.

In many ways, the Tracage is a poster child for the type of divisive development that New Orleans will be forced to confront over the next decade (consider it a warm-up for the debate surrounding Trump Tower).  Residents at the neighboring Lengsfield Lofts have already voiced their opposition to the plans (though this may be ascribed to typical NIMBY-ism), and the project has already provoked talk of imposing a height limit in the historic neighborhood.  Similar objections can be found to almost any new significant development in any city in the country, and they often end up swept under a rug of rhetoric espousing progress and tax revenue (and the subject project appears no different).

New Orleans, as a result of Katrina, is in a singularly conflicted position.  While prior to Katrina a non-contextual and out-of-scale project such as this would have been in many ways unthinkable, residents today are forced to choose between preserving the historic fabric of a neighborhood and supporting 'progress' in the name of recovery. While not mutually exclusive by definition (in fact, there is a plethora of steps that developers can take to incorporate new architecture into the surrounding neighborhood), the Tracage clearly fails the contextual development test.

And so it is that a couple of opportunistic developers will alter the skyline of one of the great cities of the United States, and irreparably harm the built environment of a historic neighborhood.  And one day we will ask ourselves whether it was worth it.

Links:
Project Website
Tracage construction to begin later this year (NO CityBusiness)
The Simple Life (Gambit)
Secret deal fall short of illegal (T-P)
Press Release
 

Massey's signs lease for new HQ on N. Carrollton

As reported by CityBusiness on October 9th and the Times-Picayune on October 18th, Louisiana-based, outdoor equipment retailer Massey's Professional Outfitters will open a 28,000 square foot store, warehouse, marketing, administration and distribution center in the former Riley Building, located at 509 North Carrollton, near the intersection of Carrollton and Orleans in Mid-City.

The project will create at least 20 to 30 jobs (the TP article states that 20-30 jobs will be moved from a current Metarie facility, and the CityBusiness article states that the project will house 20 to 30 jobs ) and should serve as a great model for small-to-medium sized businesses that want to remain in or move to New Orleans as they expand their business.  This is the second (that I'm aware of) 20,000 square foot+ lease signed this fall that also includes renovating an existing building (Borders renovating the Bultman Funeral Home being the first).  Are there any others that I have missed?

The landlord is Joseph Fertitta, who may have a somewhat corrupt history, pleading guilty to a Louisiana Board of Ethics charge in 2005 for colluding with his wife, then employed as a secretary in the City of Kenner's Mayor's office, in winning a contract for their family excavation company that was owned by Fertitta and his wife.  There weren't many details beyond the ethics ruling, and I'll also state that this may be a different Joseph Fertitta than that named in the case, as he and his family have been Mid-City residents for half-a-century according to this article.  Does anyone know if they are one and the same? UPDATE: They are not the same Fertitta.  As made clear in the comments below, neither the owner of the site nor his wife, is related to the Joseph Fertitta cited above.  Thanks to the two commenters for their help in sorting out the confusion. 

The new project is located near several sites on that stretch of North Carrollton that Victory Real Estate Investments  is assembling and planning on redeveloping.  Sadly, there is talk of a Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, or Dick's Sporting Goods being brought in as part of the redevelopment, all big boxes that would be entirely out-of-scale with the surrounding neighborhood.  The hope should be that Victory is able to identify ten more Massey's to take space on that stretch of road, and complete the retail corridor in a manner that is fitting with the history and architecture of the neighborhood.  North Carrollton Avenue isn't St. Charles, but its not Veterans Boulevard either.  All that said, Massey's highlighted Victory's future plans for the stretch as a key reason for deciding to locate their business there, so maybe I should shut my mouth?

Victory already developed Carrollton Plaza which was the redevelopment of the former Winn-Dixie into a smallish Home Depot and Sav-a-Center.

Borders on St. Charles

This is relatively old news, but I thought it was important enough to comment on.  Borders is converting the former Bultman Funeral Home, located at the corner of  St. Charles and Louisiana Avenue, into a 24,000 square foot  store.

Bultman Funeral Home (from asergeev.com)

Naturally, the Times-Picayune article noted the potential impact the store would have on New Orleans' independent booksellers, particularly Octavia Books and Garden District Book Shop, but in my opinion the possible negative affect on these stores is outweighed by the benefits of the proposed project.  Right now is not the time to filibuster the renovation and return to commerce of a historic building in a critical neighborhood.  Remember, it wasn't more than five years ago that this same controversy was escalating due to the impending construction of the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas, and Magazine Street today is as vibrant as ever (and this is post-Katrina). 

Strong, local, independent businesses have an uncanny ability to withstand competition from national chains, based on service, familiarity, and meeting the needs of niche markets, and I would expect the same from both stores.  Besides, as noted in the TP article,  residents of Orleans Parish already travel to Jefferson Parish to shop at Barnes and Noble and Borders there.  It is incredibly important that those tax dollars stay in Orleans Parish (5.00% of the 9.00% total sales tax goes to the Parish, with the remaining going to the state).  Borders reported revenues of approximately $5.5 million per US store (which each averaged about 24,800 square feet) in 2006 , which, if achieved at this location, would create $275,000 in tax revenue annually for the Parish  (which should be almost enough to pay for the new trash cans that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is so smitten with).

Beyond tax dollars, the development will provide employment (according to their website, Borders provides healthcare benefits to all employees) for the local community, and will anchor a run-down intersection in the Lower Garden District, bringing much-needed traffic (foot-, or otherwise) and commerce to the immediate neighborhood.

It is critical that the Lower Garden District, which is in a precipitous position, remains a viable, safe, stable neighborhood linking Uptown with the CBD.  That section of the City cannot be allowed to degenerate into a dead zone, and the contagion of Central City cannot spread further riverside than it already has.  A 24,000 square foot Borders anchor is a good start, and it would be expected that new developments are announced in the surrounding area in the next year, as the development takes shape.

That the developers, Stirling Properties, have stated their intention to preserve the historic structure is vital.  One can only hope that Stirling does not bait-and-switch the community with this project, and follows through on their stated plan.  Unfortunately, a brief review of their portfolio does little to alleviate any apprehension regarding the final outcome of the project, as past projects of the firm appear to largely consist of national big boxes and shlocky suburban concrete-and-glass office parks.

With that said, it will be up to the community to follow and engage in this process, and ensure that Stirling and Borders do the right thing for New Orleans, not just their bottom-line.