NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[ardecila]

^^ This was a proposal I came up with a few months ago...

[dgpatel]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^^ This was a proposal I came up with a few months ago...

I'm assuming the dotted lines represent future extensions for the transit system? If so, how do you think the one crossing the river will be built? Is it possible to run the rail on the HOV/transit lane, starting from UPT? That way it would serve into the heart of downtown, and connect to the new streetcar tracks to get to St. Charles, the Quarter, etc.

I think its an interesting idea for the rail to cross the river because the ferry can then be replaced by light rail, which should substantially reduce operating costs for the DOTD/CCC, as well as making the commute across the river much more quicker for the residents of Algiers Point. This can also attract other Westbank commuters who can park at a garage that is built on the Algiers side, and would be a perfect way to reduce traffic in and out of downtown during Mardi Gras and future Saints Super Bowl parades.

Originally Posted by NOLAmike

dgpatel: Thanks for those links. After having lived in Baton Rouge for 6 years its interesting to hear that CATS has no firm income base besides fares. To be honest with you Baton Rouge is a mess from an urban planning perspective. There are no sidewalks anywhere and a lot of the time there are ditches on the side of the road so the car will run you into the ditch if you are walking or on a bike. Thanks goodness they finally built bike lanes on brightside though. Its a shame they only did that after one of the LSU cyclists was killed by a traffic accident on his bike. Hopefully there will be better service connecting the 2 cities one day though. LA swift is a big improvement on what was there before, but rail would be a nice addition. Just have to somehow improve transit within the city limits of BR itself

I grew up on the Westbank, but have been working in Baton Rouge for the last 4 years. I was VERY unhappy with the roads in BR when I first got there, but the Green Light Projects that have been completed over the past few years, as well as those to be completed in the future have made a HUGE difference. BR has come a long way in the past 4 years, and even though they are a few years behind in their planning, they seem to be making some progress atleast with their planning - we'll see if any of this ever comes to fruition.

TheFutureBR website has some interesting concepts and includes a document that goes further in detail with their ideas. It also talks about the commuter rail from NOLA as well as adding a local streetcar:

[dgpatel]

The board of directors of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center - New Orleans gave the go ahead Wednesday for architects to move forward with plans to renovate the oldest portion of the riverfront facility.

The board approved a request to move from the initial design phase to the "construction document" phase of the renovation plan. Board members also agreed to expand the scope of the project and increase its projected cost.

After Wednesday's vote, the convention center has tentatively assigned a $42 million budget to its plan to transform Hall A into a space more suited for corporate meetings. The plan also includes remodeling the entrance at Julia Street and installing a heating system in Halls A, B and C, which together make up Phase I of the center.

Officials said four years ago, as they scrapped plans to build a fourth addition to the meeting hall, that they would turn attention to renovating portions of the nearly three decades old Phase I. That portion of the building was first used as the Great Hall of the 1984 World's Fair and housed its first convention in January 1985. It has not been renovated since, said Bob Johnson, the building's general manager.

Full Story

[polemic]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^^ This was a proposal I came up with a few months ago...

Ardecila, I think that’s a great proposal as well. I guess my preference of the Jefferson Hwy route to the airport over the airline route would be that I think that the redevelopment opportunities and passenger numbers would be higher on a Jefferson route than an Airline route. But that’s obviously far from certain: to be fair, Elmwood already has a quick shot into downtown on Earhart and some of my thinking is probably pie in the sky (how great would it be if medical tourism becomes a thing in New Orleans and people are flying into MSY then taking a train to world renown hospitals at Ochsner and the Medical Center?) I have nothing to back up that people in the Jefferson area are more likely to take public transit into downtown than the people in the Metairie Country Club/the neighborhoods of Cleary/Transcontinental – just that the downtown area is a draw primarily for low wage (hospitality) workers at this point, and I think they are more likely to live in Jefferson. Plus there is the fact that running public transit on rail lines instead of light rail lines makes it expensive to operate. You have to use heavy rolling stock to meet federal safety guidelines, and I believe that there are increased regulation on labor requirements.

I guess a large part of my reticence is based upon a belief that serious, high frequency commuter rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is a pipe dream in the short-to-mid term (0-20 years)—if it’s not, then the Airline route makes more sense, because you could have fewer stops on the line, you could draw in new passenger traffic into MSY from Baton Rouge, and you could hit the commuter communities in Destrehan and LaPlace (to NOLA) and Gonzales and Prairieville (to Baton Rouge) on the way. But it would be too costly to lay new track between the two cities (and big-Rail Co. opposition will keep high frequency from happening on the existing line), there’s not enough demand from it since not enough people commute daily between the two cities, and there is no easy opportunities for public transit (and no commitment for it) on the Baton Rouge end of the route. I think regional commuter rail is much more likely a possibility between downtown and the Northshore, given an actual need by a large number of commuters. Therefore, I think that I would reverse your map and run light (or maybe commuter) rail down Tulane/Airline, and then up Causeway. Ideally on some sort of a route with stops at the Passenger Terminal; Medical Center; Broad; Jeff Davis; S Carrollton (with a reworked station/intersection making crossing over to Xavier and Carrollton Shopping Center more inviting/not impossible); a stop in Holly Grove; Metairie Rd./Causeway; W. Napoleon; Vets; W. Esplanade; and then continuing onto 2-3 stops on the north shore, with Park and Ride facilities at the Metairie and Northshore stops.

But then I guess this is all a pipe dream … no one in local or state government is considering anything but heritage-style streetcar lines that do little for non-tourists (but I guess that’s a start).

[Nolacat157]

Transport for Nola has a great transportation map too.

http://www.transportfornola.org/whatif/map.html

[tennis1400]

More details from Safety and Permit Office on Gibbs 900 Poydras project.

Applicant:
GIBBS CONSTRUCTION
5736 CITRUS BLVD
HARAHAN, LA, 70123
Home Phone: 504-733-4336

Contractor:
STEVE J. FINEGAN
STEVEN J. FINEGAN ARCHITECTS
123 S.PIERCE
NEW ORLEANS, LA, 70119
Home Phone: 504-486-5744
ARCHITECT 3898


View Additional Licensed Professionals>>
1) GIBBS CONSTRUCTION
5736 CITRUS BLVD
HARAHAN, LA, 70123
Home Phone: 504-733-4336
RESIDENT 10729



Project Description:
CONVERT 19,402 SF VACANT COMMERCIAL BUILDING INTO A MIXED-OCCUPANCY AS PER PLANS: 1ST FLOOR - 3 COMMERCIAL UNITS & 2 DWELLING UNITS; 2ND FLOOR - 7 DWELLING UNITS; 3RD FLOOR - 3 DWELLING UNITS.
Owner:
GIBBS 900 POYDRAS LLC
547 BARONNE ST,#100
NEW ORLEANS LA 70113

[Mission Most Livable]

Great news and great article which includes a pretty good overview of ongoing and proposed projects along the route (including completion dates).

From the TP.

[neworleanshoo]

i just noticed that the trump tower website is down (they let their domain expire). i wonder if this means it's now officially dead? would be nice to be able to cut the cord on this thing if it's not gonna happen.

http://www.trumptowerneworleans.com/

[cameron70115]

Originally Posted by neworleanshoo

i just noticed that the trump tower website is down (they let their domain expire). i wonder if this means it's now officially dead? would be nice to be able to cut the chord on this thing if it's not gonna happen.

http://www.trumptowerneworleans.com/

It's not gonna happen!!

There. The cord is cut.

[neworleanshoo]

ha! i know it's not likely just wondered if anybody had heard anything definite. the expired domain seems like a pretty big sign.

[skyscraperfan23]

Originally Posted by cameron70115

It's not gonna happen!!

There. The cord is cut.

It will happen one day.

[skyscraperfan23]

Originally Posted by neworleanshoo

ha! i know it's not likely just wondered if anybody had heard anything definite. the expired domain seems like a pretty big sign.

but things will change very soon, trump is holding the cards.

[Mission Most Livable]

Originally Posted by skyscraperfan23

It will happen one day.

So will the cure for cancer and the smart money is on the cure for cancer happening first.

[Mission Most Livable]

Originally Posted by skyscraperfan23

but things will change very soon, trump is holding the cards.

By "things" you mean he will suddenly have the capital to build something without the city and state subsidizing it?

Those are the only cards that will ever see his tower built here and there's a reason he's not running for President. It's because his financial disclosure would reveal he is - and has been - broke for a long time now.

Maybe a tower will be built but it likely won't be built by Trump especially given how damaged his brand is currently. His name is an albatross not an asset today.

[skyscraperfan23]

Originally Posted by Mission Most Livable

By "things" you mean he will suddenly have the capital to build something without the city and state subsidizing it?

Those are the only cards that will ever see his tower built here and there's a reason he's not running for President. It's because his financial disclosure would reveal he is - and has been - broke for a long time now.

Maybe a tower will be built but it likely won't be built by Trump especially given how damaged his brand is currently. His name is an albatross not an asset today.

Not really, trump must build this, New Orleans needs to be into the 21st century.

[sguil1]

National World War II Museum ready to expand

http://www.nola.com/military/index.s..._museum_r.html

Even as they celebrate Memorial Day today and prepare for the opening Saturday of the new Restoration Pavilion, leaders of the National World War II Museum are looking down the road to future stages of their $300 million expansion project.


The museum hopes to have its expansion complete by 2015.
Last week, they appeared before the City Planning Commission to seek permission for some changes in the master plan they laid out, starting in 2004, for the collection of buildings that will fill the 3.5-acre site bounded by Magazine, Calliope and Camp streets and Andrew Higgins Drive.

The expansion site is on the upriver side of Andrew Higgins. A pedestrian bridge across that street will link the expansion to the original museum building.

The museum, which opened in June 2000 as the National D-Day Museum and was renamed in 2006, is widely seen as one of the city's brightest achievements in recent years. It has been designated by Congress as the nation's official World War II museum.

"We are building one of the great, great museums of the world," Bob Farnsworth, the museum's senior vice president for capital programs, told the commission.

The museum, however, will be somewhat smaller than was envisioned several years ago. One planned building, the U.S. Pavilion at Camp and Andrew Higgins, has been eliminated, and some floors have been cut from other buildings. All told, the expansion project is being reduced by 98,000 square feet of combined floor area, to about 179,000 square feet.

Some of the remaining planned buildings have been rotated around the central "parade ground" to fill up the space where the U.S. Pavilion would have been.

In addition to the Restoration Pavilion, which will let visitors see how World War II artifacts are restored and preserved, and the already opened Victory Theater, American Sector restaurant and Stage Door Canteen entertainment venue, those buildings will include the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: Land, Sea and Air; the Campaigns Pavilion; and the Liberation Pavilion....



Highlights :
-pedestrian bridge across to the origional museum
-full plan has been reduced by 98,000 total sq feet, eliminating one of the structures
-Canopy will be built but with different design and topping out at 150 ft instead of 318
-US freedom pavillion height increased from 80 to 105 ft to accomodate a donated B-17 bomber
-no mention of the adjacent hotel plan

[Mission Most Livable]

Originally Posted by skyscraperfan23

Not really, trump must build this, New Orleans needs to be into the 21st century.

Although I disagree with Andres Duany on many things I agree with his belief that no one project or idea has, over ever will, save/transform anything about New Orleans.

It's a fools errand to keep chasing these silver bullets and NOLA is littered with them.

A Trump Tower won't bring New Orleans into the 21st century unless it's filled with superheroes who will help fight the crime, teach the children, pave the streets and rebuild our subsurface drainage.

The tax dollars we would have to sacrifice in order to provide the Donald with the municipal welfare he would need to transform one city block would be better served supporting a project like South of Market at a fraction of the public dollars and 8 times the square footage of the CBD.

If he's a multi-billionaire, let him build it without putting his hat out to a city that is in a fiscal pretzel.

Don't get me wrong here. I FULLY support the construction of condos that will miraculously bring us into the century we currently live in.

I just don't want very limited tax revenue being spent to do so, even if it means we have to muddle thru living in the 20th century with better streets, drainage, schools and transit.

[ardecila]

Don't bother arguing with the trolls.

[tennis1400]

I know this doesnt seem like much but this lighting will have a big impact on our skyline...Hopefully they light the dome up for all the different seasons.

New Orleans Superdome LED Exterior Lighting Package
201100512420 v. 3
Dodge Project Report, Plans, Specs and Addenda
Theater/Auditorium,
Athletic Lighting Bidding $1,800,000 LA (Orleans) Jun 14, 2011

[dgpatel]

Originally Posted by tennis1400

I know this doesnt seem like much but this lighting will have a big impact on our skyline...Hopefully they light the dome up for all the different seasons.

New Orleans Superdome LED Exterior Lighting Package
201100512420 v. 3
Dodge Project Report, Plans, Specs and Addenda
Theater/Auditorium,
Athletic Lighting Bidding $1,800,000 LA (Orleans) Jun 14, 2011

Any idea what color LED's will be used on any normal night? I am a huge fan of the white uplighting from Super Bowl XXXVI