NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[tennis1400]

Nice to read in city business how the recently adopted Fat City ordinance in Jefferson Parish is encouraging the businesses there to look to relocate to New Orleans. I cant believe that what the Jeff Parish Council did was even legal. But glad to see these businesses relocate to a place where they will be more appreciated.

[skyscraperfan23]

Originally Posted by 11thFloor

I'm not sure how Trump Tower fits in to NOLA's development post-Katrina either, but it does seem that everything going on in the actual city rehabilitation has been very speculative. I used to live off North Johnson near Alvar, and I know that area got hit really badly, but it had a secure enough levee system for the development that has taken place in that area of the upper 9th since. (The areas you've heard most about but probably see the actual least of are the parts that got damaged most, partly because it's hard to capture the scene.) It's difficult to talk about NOLA in general without Katrina coming up, because that's permanently marked it's identity, and that's too bad, because it feels as if would be nicer to just to focus on the city for its unique cultural identity and history and the ways that could be developed otherwise, particularly where there are plans to move forward. I think it would be difficult to take that out of the conversation now though given the deep uncertainty the region has had since.

It's interesting to hear the comments about Treme also, which I just started following somewhat recently. No television show really captures a sense of place, although I've made that mistake too. (Back in the day when I lived down in this neighborhood of NOLA, I remember watching "sex and the city" and having just a general sense of "NYC in general = slut." kinda kidding.) Basically though, no television show is ever going to give you some kind of fully-formed understanding of a city's local landscape, just general clues on the way various aspects of how the city might be adapted into a storyteller's idea of it. If you are a fan of the city you watch it for what it is and realize there are many other things that make up the landscape around it, so you can't exactly criticize the lack of certain aspects integrated into it, merely seek out information from broader sources (even if not accessible in popular entertainment). I have sometimes worried post-Katrina that people might take all the entertainment that sprung up out of this as reasons NOT to visit. There's "Treme" and there's "True Blood" and possibly many other things that likely developed out of these past events but in terms of the reality and actual potential, possibly just creating a more skewed conception of it. You understand the city less if you rely only on the entertainment-version that seems for whatever reason more accessible. However it certainly is useful to read about how people in a city have different interpretations of that entertainment (not that I would direct the 'Treme' writers here, because writers are notoriously sensitive).

That's my commentary. Granted--my understanding now is what feels from a long time ago and the people I lived with moved since then as well. The longer it's been since I've visited the less I know about it in a lot of ways, particularly in terms of construction and development plans, which makes it difficult because my connection with the city is both close and tenuous. So I would also like to hear more from people on the scene about where this whole thing is going.

Trump Tower needs to be built.

[tennis1400]

Yeah I would love for the city to have a new tallest, my only suggestion would be to make it somehow reach 1000+ feet. More hotel rooms and maybe even apartments could make the tower more financially viable.

[IceCream]

Woot!

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...f-new-orleans/

Now we'll have 2 new cranes for a total of 6. I like to watch them (from a distance) from my office in downtown.

That and the fact that they've been setting records for volumes lately is encouraging about not only the local, but national economy.

Hopefully the legislature will continue to fund port expansions so the economic effect can spillover into the local economy (more jobs, demand for housing, etc).

On another note, I've been watching the "Roth Building" at 337 Carondelet (4 stories or so) be renovated over the last few months. I was optimistic that they weren't just doing the first floor, but that they'd put offices or apartments in the top floors to build out the building.

Sure enough I noticed a sign on the entrance for "luxury one bedroom apartments." Hopefully more of those old, beautiful buildings in the CBD (like the Western Union Building) can be converted from either vacant or offices/crap retail on the first floor and vacant on the upper floors to nice offices / residential.

[Cel]

The BioDistrict area really has me interested. The new VA hospital and LSU hospital together are going to form a massive medical complex, employing thousands, and bringing in thousands of visitors and patients each day.

However, the area around where these to massive facilities are being built is somewhat decrepit and barren. No cafes to walk across the street to, no restaurants, coffee shops. No retail.

Who owns the land around those areas of Tulane and Canal? Surely there are some people who would be interested in developing the area surrounding the hospitals into retail and dining establishments. I mean, not only will you have the two massive, state of the art hospitals, but you still have the entire LSU Health System (nursing school, grad school, med school, etc) across the street on Tulane, as well as the entire Tulane med system and the cancer center a few blocks down.

Any chance we see a surge of development in terms of retail / dining around the areas of Tulane and Canal where these new facilities will be?

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by IceCream

Woot!

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/th...f-new-orleans/

Now we'll have 2 new cranes for a total of 6. I like to watch them (from a distance) from my office in downtown.

That and the fact that they've been setting records for volumes lately is encouraging about not only the local, but national economy.

Hopefully the legislature will continue to fund port expansions so the economic effect can spillover into the local economy (more jobs, demand for housing, etc).

On another note, I've been watching the "Roth Building" at 337 Carondelet (4 stories or so) be renovated over the last few months. I was optimistic that they weren't just doing the first floor, but that they'd put offices or apartments in the top floors to build out the building.

Sure enough I noticed a sign on the entrance for "luxury one bedroom apartments." Hopefully more of those old, beautiful buildings in the CBD (like the Western Union Building) can be converted from either vacant or offices/crap retail on the first floor and vacant on the upper floors to nice offices / residential.

Yeah the Western Union Building was a really nice reno. Do you know if there is a website for the Roth Building?

BTW here are some renderings for a new school being built in the area:

[WesternSon]

Any chance we see a surge of development in terms of retail / dining around the areas of Tulane and Canal where these new facilities will be?

Oh for sure. You will see new businesses to move in and cater to the needs of new Medical activity in the area. Dr. offices, restaurants, and such will soon follow. The UMC hospital is expected to open its doors in 2015, so it will be a while before anybody puts any real skin in the game and starts developing projects. I am sure some might already be swooping in and purchasing properties though. Hope we see some older homes developed into private Dr. offices like all the law offices on Canal.

It is going to be great for the city. Hope the political grandstanding about its size is stopped and we start trying to develop the basis for a regional medical research center.

Also, a bright note for the local economy: Forbes says we are the #2 metroplex for jobs...

http://blogs.forbes.com/joelkotkin/2...ties-for-jobs/

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by Uptowner

What DMV? If your talking about the LaDOTD District 02 HQ, it's been open for a year now if I'm not mistaken.

BTW finally found all the info on the DMV on West End Blvd. The new DMV is actually being built across the street as I thought. Contractor is Construction Masters and the architect is Group Novak. Cant find a rendering of the facility itself but know that it will be 11,700 sft.

Update found a rendering:

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

Yeah I would love for the city to have a new tallest, my only suggestion would be to make it somehow reach 1000+ feet. More hotel rooms and maybe even apartments could make the tower more financially viable.

Would a building that large even fill? I was curious to see if the first one would fill.
I'd like a different name as well. An office tower should be NOLA tallest. Next Trump will have a golf course here...

[tennis1400]

Originally Posted by annie himself

Would a building that large even fill? I was curious to see if the first one would fill.
I'd like a different name as well. An office tower should be NOLA tallest. Next Trump will have a golf course here...

The square footage of the building was actually less than you think. Just because something is tall doesnt mean it is actually that large.

[annie himself]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

The square footage of the building was actually less than you think. Just because something is tall doesnt mean it is actually that large.

True, have to factor in cost as well, especially in this economy.

[ardecila]

In New Orleans, the soil is completely unsuitable for highrise construction. The ones that do exist have foundation piles that go down nearly as far underground as the building is tall.

This is an extremely expensive process - far more expensive than in Chicago or New York where tall buildings rest on short caissons down to bedrock. (In NY bedrock is within 0-40 feet of the surface, in Chicago it's about ~120 feet down)

Basically, the only force capable of overcoming the massive expense of highrise construction is an equally massive ego, like those of oil company executives or Donald Trump. The housing market is unlikely to generate very many highrises on its own... we'll see many more buildings in the 5-15 story range before we get any highrises. Basically, more of what Domain is planning for South Market.

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by ardecila

In New Orleans, the soil is completely unsuitable for highrise construction. The ones that do exist have foundation piles that go down nearly as far underground as the building is tall.

This is an extremely expensive process - far more expensive than in Chicago or New York where tall buildings rest on short caissons down to bedrock. (In NY bedrock is within 0-40 feet of the surface, in Chicago it's about ~120 feet down).

One Shell Square is 697-ft. tall, and its pilings go down 210-ft, for a ratio of 1-ft. of piling for every 3.32-ft. of height. I'm not an expert, but I assume the further down into the sedimentary stratosphere one goes, the harder the rock layers become, exponentially, and the less of the need to keep going down for more height/weight. Keep in mind too that One Shell Square has a concrete tube exterior, with a steel core. A pure steel frame skyscraper would be much lighter, and therefore need less piling depth.

It obviously depends on a lot of factors, and pile driving isn't free, but I believe it's more or less on par with other forms of excavating needed for building erection in other cities. The main reason New Orleans doesn't have more tall skyscrapers, is because it's been in a recession for the last 30 years. Hopefully things will continue to surge and the city will keep growing.

This is where I got the above information: http://www.regional-modernism.com/20...uare-1972.html

[C.Lan]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

One Shell Square is 697-ft. tall, and its pilings go down 210-ft, for a ratio of 1-ft. of piling for every 3.32-ft. of height. I'm not an expert, but I assume the further down into the sedimentary stratosphere one goes, the harder the rock layers become, exponentially, and the less of the need to keep going down for more height/weight. Keep in mind too that One Shell Square has a concrete tube exterior, with a steel core. A pure steel frame skyscraper would be much lighter, and therefore need less piling depth.

It obviously depends on a lot of factors, and pile driving isn't free, but I believe it's more or less on par with other forms of excavating needed for building erection in other cities. The main reason New Orleans doesn't have more tall skyscrapers, is because it's been in a recession for the last 30 years. Hopefully things will continue to surge and the city will keep growing.

This is where I got the above information: http://www.regional-modernism.com/20...uare-1972.html

I'm not sure where this fits in re: compressive load, but I think that lack of tall skyscrapers in NOLA might have to do with climate and soil as well as recession/Katrina also. NOLA has more bog-like topography than areas more known for tall 'scapers and more prone to liquefaction and slope failure, hence pile driving is a different process than elsewhere where obvious factors might be more along the lines of particle friction (say in a topography with looser soil). So though it's a basic standard that you'll go through denser rock layers the further you drive down into the sediment, top-level soil also plays a major factor in deciding pile driving.

Not sure how this fits into engineering on this deck, but I'm all for NOLA growing.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Blitzen

One Shell Square is 697-ft. tall, and its pilings go down 210-ft, for a ratio of 1-ft. of piling for every 3.32-ft. of height. I'm not an expert, but I assume the further down into the sedimentary stratosphere one goes, the harder the rock layers become, exponentially, and the less of the need to keep going down for more height/weight. Keep in mind too that One Shell Square has a concrete tube exterior, with a steel core. A pure steel frame skyscraper would be much lighter, and therefore need less piling depth.

I'm pretty sure One Shell Square's perimeter loads are distributed to a grid of piles at the base via a concrete mat. Regardless of how the load is transferred through the shaft of the building, you typically want to spread it evenly over the building's footprint when you get to the foundation.

My comment about the pilings as deep as the building is high was based off of the Harrah's hotel tower, the most recent high-rise structure built in the city; I've heard that this was the case during the construction of that building.

It's interesting to look at the New Orleans tallest buildings list, though... with only a handful of exceptions, the entire skyline was built incredibly rapidly from 1970-1985. Without that, our skyline would look like Mobile's or Charleston's... the next wave of change to hit the city may come just as fast.

[DillardAlum]

Studies of Dixie Brewery's structural integrity has begun. As we know, the VA had hoped to include it within its footprint and convert it into a research center. Hopefully, they'll get the green light.

http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf...ural_inte.html

[sguil1]

Good news on Dixie Brewery. Actually saw some activity there this morning. Looked like survey type work. Also VA has now posted the rendering below outside the building on the fence. This is new from last week.

[sguil1]

New Orleans ranked 2nd best big city for jobs by Forbes

Forbes magazine's annual "Best Cities for Jobs" list ranks the New Orleans-Metairie metropolitan area as second-best among big cities.

It counted the New Orleans area as one of the list's "intriguing surprises," moving up 46 places from last year's list. Noting that the region lost 11 percent of its population and nearly 16 percent of its jobs in the last decade, it says "the Big Easy seems to be finding its place among America's great cities."

http://www.nola.com/business/index.s...d_best_bi.html

[C.Lan]

Great news that NOLA is makings its way up the list! It seems as if that could bode very well for the economy. I guess we'll have to wait to see.

On a side-note, last I'd heard of Dixie Brewery they have largely been focused on survey work, although in this regard the site is quite active.

[tkc]

What are your thoughts on implosions downtown?
Just Curious...