News Roundup › LSU-VA Hospital

More than two years ago, Mayor Mitch Landrieu stood on the future site of the Veterans Affairs medical complex in Mid-City and announced an unprecedented plan; the city, with the help of the national nonprofit Builders of Hope, would move up to 100 historic houses in the hospital’s footprint to lots around the city, where they would be rehabbed and sold.

Source: The Times-Picayne/nola.com | Archived Copy

In an exclusive, The Louisiana Weekly has learned that last week the owners of Dixie Brewery, Joseph and Kendra Bruno, were offered less than $60,000 for the Brewery and other parcel improvements in preparation for a proposed Veterans Affairs Hospital.

Source: The Louisiana Weekly | Archived Copy

Of the 244 parcels of land that need to be bought up before building the hospital, 108 have already been purchased by the state, according to Michael DiResto, spokesperson for the state’s Division of Administration. DiResto, however, says the state cannot get ownership of 124 of the parcels, or just over half of what’s needed, since the database needed to perform real estate transactions still isn’t fully restored.

Source: Fox 8 Live WVUE TV | Archived Copy

The planned district is described by Sandra Stokes, executive vice chair of the Foundation for Historical Louisiana in Baton Rouge, as “suburban sprawl in the most culturally significant urban environment in the US.”

Source: The Christian Science Monitor | Archived Copy

“I’m holding out because they’re being unfair and heavy-handed,” Guth said. “The leverage I got is being there, being in their way. I think the hospitals will be good for the city, but it’s also a land grab, pure and simple.”

Source: The Washington Post | Archived Copy

“The difference (on the VA side) is that the decision-makers over there are people who care about New Orleans,” Davis said. “On this side, it’s the state and (Louisiana State University) who have shown nothing but contempt for the quality of life in New Orleans.”

Source: The Times-Picayune | Archived Copy