News Roundup › Real Estate

While proposals for the creation of a new hospitality district are being quietly shuffled through the city and state legislatures, concerned New Orleans residents are raising their voices in an effort to ensure increased transparency and public involvement in the process. Citizens’ suggestions include slowing the bills down to allow for further public review and comment, as well as appointing an affected-resident review board.

Source: WWL TV | Archived Copy

Preservation is our city’s salvation, argues Jack Davis, a trustee of The National Trust for Historic Preservation. Succinct, clear, and convincing, Davis’ article, originally published in the Spring 2012 edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas, the quarterly arts-and-culture magazine of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humaniities, entitled “Stop Demolishing New Orleans’ Heritage”, calls for New Orleans to recognize the importance architecture plays in our cultural economy. To view the complete 2012 Louisiana Cultural Vistas spring edition, click here.

Source: Louisiana Cultural Vistas Magazine, Spring 2012 Edition of the Quarterly Arts-and-Culture Magazine of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities | Archived Copy

What does it mean to “Rebuild New Orleans?”

From the February 20, 2012 Times-Picayune: “After closing on financing and land acquisition this month, Stirling Properties officials say they are poised to green light construction on the Mid-City Market, a Winn-Dixie-anchored shopping center that will include a mix of smaller retail outlets.”

The 107,000 square foot project, set to open sometime next year, promises to generate revenue for the Mid-City area, but at what cost?

Source: The Times-Picayune | Archived Copy

Every city has them: struggling neighborhoods whose main boulevards and avenues have more “Closed for Business” signs than open doors. How can one combat this sort of storied and unfortunate blight? The answer is, possibly, that ONE cannot, but that together, MANY can. Such is the idea behind Oakland-based experiment Popuphood, where a group of like-minded or complementary businesses simultaneously move into a few blocks of space (rent-free for six months) to increase a boom in talk, traffic, awareness, and fresh faces to areas that need them most.

Source: Co.Exist: World Changing Ideas and Innovation | Archived Copy

Density isn’t a magic elixir. Density simply facilitates interaction. Interactions translate into wealth when a population is educated and local institutions support private enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Source: The New York Times | Archived Copy

More than a dozen neighbors spoke in opposition to the requests, citing noise from deliveries and other store activities, alleged damage to streets and buildings from the large trucks, a shortage of neighborhood parking and other problems.

Source: The Times-Picayune | Archived Copy

Walgreens executives have yet to commit to the Magazine Street project (which would include closing their location on Tchoupitoulas), said developer Louis Stirling Properties, but appear to be the tenant most likely to be able to pay the building’s $600,000 lease. Stirling’s plan for the building includes removing its brick front completely and replacing it with a glass wall with steel columns — not unlike nearby Whole Foods — and many residents asked why such a modern design was chosen.

Source: The Uptown Messenger | Archived Copy

One major area of questions that emerged with the debate over the Romney Pilates building is the veracity of information presented to public bodies as they make decisions and how to ensure that applicants’ plans stay within the spirit of what was permitted.

Source: The Times-Picayune | Archived Copy

Those in the neighborhood say such statements are blatant misrepresentation, and the board was duped. The class schedule and list of teachers on the Romney website prove that more than four people at a time will be in the building, elevating the need for more parking, they say. And the picture that was shown to the board depicts a much lower-profile two-story building than what has sprouted on Magazine Street.

Source: The Times-Picayune | 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