NEW ORLEANS | Project/Development Thread

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by latour58zg

Chris...I'd love it if it were a building that is a monument and not just a hollow shell. It will look so dated within the next few decades that everyone will want to "tear down that eyesore" Maybe Donald Trump will be interested in developing this riverfront property, It sounds like a waste of a great site and opportuniy to anchor a major business or hotel there. But it is just my own opinion

If done well, these types of things can become icons of a city. Think Space Needle, Gateway Arch, CN Tower, Eiffel tower... all symbols of their respective cities.

[N.O.L.A.]

Originally Posted by ardecila

I seriously hope this is a joke. WTF is Tricentennial Partners? I assume it's some kind of joint venture set up specifically to make this bid, because it turns up no hits on Google. The name is kind of a giveaway too. Without knowing who the partners in the JV are, I can't assess whether they have the necessary experience or not.

The Lens has an updated article. Tricentennial is a partnership between Eskew Dumez Ripple, Manning Architects, The Audubon Nature Institute, SMG, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Louisiana Restaurant Association, and the Morial Convention center.

Here's the article from The Lens as well as some more renderings that they have provided:

http://thelensnola.org/2013/04/19/co...e-center-site/

Some other renderings from the article:

[latour58zg]

Originally Posted by Chris from N.O.

If done well, these types of things can become icons of a city. Think Space Needle, Gateway Arch, CN Tower, Eiffel tower... all symbols of their respective cities.

Chris having seen "the rest of the project" on the lens, I have to agree with you it's a very impressive project and I hope it all works out. It looks like it's well thought out I just hope everything gets built per architectural renderings. I still hope the Tower becomes a building and not just a Tourist attraction. Maybe instead of a tower, a World Class accessible Market with fish,meats,produce, etc. part open air, part glassed enclosed (Sort of what the french market used to be, sad to see the majority of the fruit and produce vendors are no longer there) . New Orleans is a port city with quite a bit of produce imported from Latin America, and rated the best food in the country. St. Louis Cathedral is the Icon of New Orleans, recognizable around the world, why replace it with a tower? We're not in the 1800's in the age of Eiffel that we have to prove our steel engineering skills and if the CBD, the Warehouse District and FQ are growing in population and attracting residents and developments, they will need a place to shop that can benefit both the residents and the tourist as a practical usable space,[/QUOTE]

[skyscraperfan23]

Originally Posted by N.O.L.A.

The Lens has an updated article. Tricentennial is a partnership between Eskew Dumez Ripple, Manning Architects, The Audubon Nature Institute, SMG, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Louisiana Restaurant Association, and the Morial Convention center.

Here's the article from The Lens as well as some more renderings that they have provided:

http://thelensnola.org/2013/04/19/co...e-center-site/

Some other renderings from the article:

This is gonna definitely bring new orleans on top.

[Knotenep]

I visit this board daily, but have never posted before. I felt like today was as good a time as ever. The development of this area is of great importance. Tourism is the primary industry in NOLA, and while that may not be as prosperous as other industries, that industry must be maintained and increased.

Other cities such as Dallas, Houston, and Austin, among others all seek tourism dollars as well. Having lived in both NOLA and Texas, I truly believe that NOLA tops many places as a tourist destination in terms of an organic experience versus a fabricated experience designed to bring people in. Although this development will be along the fabricated lines, it will still better help NOLA compete within its primary industry. The city can't allow one industry to waste away as they seek to build up others, likewise the city cannot allow the competition to get better while we get weaker. The city has to balance and have a multi-faceted approach to changing the economic climate of the city. This development may help a lot, and if done correctly, it probably won't hurt in the long run.

That being said that double-sided champagne flute/vase thing needs to be something useful, commercial buildings can be pretty and colorful too. Unless they plan on having the thing hold multiple fleur-de-lis, or lily flowers, they should make it a hotel, or like someone posted above, a marketplace. Those options produce permanent jobs.

[Foley Santamaria]

Good first post.

Why a people mover tho? Extend the streetcar line. I don't want to tear down the WTC, either. We need all the highrises we can get.

[ardecila]

I think that is supposed to be the streetcar line. They're just showing a sexy vehicle (y'all know I'm in favor of modern streetcars).

[LAandMagazine]

Here's the idea for the monument: A 50-story trumpet. Done and done. You're welcome!

[MNT]

I may be going against the grain here, but I quite like the monument and the idea of tearing down the WTC for the purpose of making the riverfront actually visible and easily accessible from Canal. As it is, with the tower blocking the view and a super awkward multi-point intersection, plus railroad tracks, it is in no way a pleasant trip to the river from Canal Street (especially if you're pushing a stroller or traveling via wheelchair). It's not just the tower, but the re-landscaping of the the area around Spanish Plaza (and apparently making the ferry pedestrian only, from what I can tell from the renderings).

One semi-hilarious wrinkle: the rendering shows a new people mover and landscaped path in front of the old, hellaciously-90s Convention Center façade. I really hope if they're going to spend this much money, the entire building gets a new exterior.

All of that said, we've got two more proposals being released on Monday, right?

edited to add: actually, looks like they want to do away with Spanish Plaza altogether in the rendering. That I'm not crazy about.

[prokowave]

I actually like the WTC, although the exterior certainly needs work. I think that it would be a perfect location for a hotel or apartments or both. To me the bigger (and presumably easier) problem to solve would be that power station between the Westin and the aquarium. If they made that into a nice public space and perhaps rearranged the intersection, that would make the area much more pedestrian-friendly. Not to mention that sea of parking lots in that part of the Quarter - there's a lot of potential right there.

I don't think we'll ever be rid of the RR tracks unless something major happens. The nice thing about the WTC building is that part of it is built over the tracks, effectively increasing the size of the site. I imagine that they'd have a hard time doing anything similar if they built something new.

Personally, I don't agree with all of this talk about the city needing to constantly cater the tourism industry. It offers relatively little return on investment: low-paying jobs and business that is infrequent and unreliable. If we can get some real rapid/mass transit options in the region, we can go a long way towards improving the overall quality of life AND the attractiveness for tourists and businesses. At any rate, the city has a laundry list of basic infrastructure needs that could use the money. I say let a developer bring the building back into business and start generating some revenue for the city.

That being said, I'm surprised no one has brought up the idea of bringing back the gondola to Algiers. With ferry funding in question, it might be more successful this time. That could possibly give us an iconic structure that would also be useful for residents and tourists alike.

[ardecila]

^ I agree about Spanish Plaza. In the 50s, Spain donated the entire plaza as goodwill; they hand-cut all of the marble pavers, and the tiles on the fountain, and shipped them all the way over here. I can't believe the city would squander this. You can't build stuff like that anymore, unless you've got insane money to throw at it.

I mean, we already made the place trashy when we leased out the plaza to the Rouse Company for Riverwalk. I'd love to go through and clean out those tacky bar pavilions, bringing in classier establishments and moving them into the historic Eads Plaza arcades on either side. When will this city learn that there's no value in selling our unique heritage for short-lived economic development?

[Knotenep]

I have always wondered whether that substation near the aquarium could be relocated. That space could be used for something else, I personally have always like aquariums so I would want the Aquarium of the Americas to expand into that space with a sky bridge over the streetcar tracks, but that is another discussion for another day.

I agree that the Spanish Plaza should be preserved, the renderings do not account for the tiles so I am unsure what would become of them, but I am sure that they could be worked into any plan. I also think the plan will include the ferry service being continued, they are just going to remove the structure associated with the ferry and moving toward a water taxi service like in NYC.

[latour58zg]

[Chris from N.O.]

Yeah, as I said above, I actually like the monument idea, but I agree that tearing out Spanish Plaza would be a waste... it's such a beautiful thing to have in the middle of an urban environment.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by latour58zg

Interesting.....Rotterdam's tallest building, a residential tower named after our city.........

http://http://www.vesteda.com/en/pro...w-orleans.aspx

I always laugh when people in other parts of the US think New Orleans doesn't have an international profile. I saw a New Orleans restaurant in Hong Kong, pall mall reds are pall mall "New Orleans" in France, and cars in India advertise that their internet radios can pick up WWOZ.

[MNT]

Originally Posted by prokowave

I actually like the WTC, although the exterior certainly needs work. I think that it would be a perfect location for a hotel or apartments or both. To me the bigger (and presumably easier) problem to solve would be that power station between the Westin and the aquarium. If they made that into a nice public space and perhaps rearranged the intersection, that would make the area much more pedestrian-friendly. Not to mention that sea of parking lots in that part of the Quarter - there's a lot of potential right there.

This is a good point. Even though the WTC sits on what looks very much like it should be public space, it's not the biggest problem in the area. The power substation and the ferry terminal are ten times worse. You could keep the highrise and still make things a ton better by replacing the huge ferry building and ramps with a pedestrian ferry (see the Savannah Belles), and removing the rest of the junk that only serves to wall off Spanish Plaza from the rest of the city. If you could relocate the substation too (a big "if") you'd have created something that could entice the right tenant into the WTC building.

[ardecila]

If they ever develop the final phase of Canal Place, they could put the substation in the base of that tower.

Most cities would just put it underground, but that's not reliable enough for New Orleans. An underground transformer failed in the Warehouse District a few weeks ago after only a minor rain.

Entergy has three of these monsters around downtown, so maybe we should do something with them.

[Chris from N.O.]

Originally Posted by ardecila

I think that is supposed to be the streetcar line. They're just showing a sexy vehicle (y'all know I'm in favor of modern streetcars).

Well, it says it's a "people mover". You might be in luck.

[York1]

Unless someone has a huge amount of money and another place that could be used, it is probably impossible to have the substation moved. Moving a substation that size is not easily done.

[IceCream]

Originally Posted by York1

Unless someone has a huge amount of money and another place that could be used, it is probably impossible to have the substation moved. Moving a substation that size is not easily done.

Speaking of moving substations...what is Entergy doing at their Tulane ave site? You can see from the interestate that they demolished what appeared to be an old rusty eyesore of a substation and now have a pile driver on site.

I'm sure its something infrastructure related and not exciting, but just curious. Hopefully whatever it is looks better from I-10 then what was there. Link here for google:

http://goo.gl/maps/LS1Mu