With some encouragement from City Hall, the developers of the Walgreens store planned for Magazine Street have settled on a historic-style design intended to blend with the existing streetscape, abandoning a more modern look they had previously considered. When Stirling Properties last met with the neighborhoods surrounding the old American Legion hall in the 5500 block of Magazine, they offered three options, each of which blended a contemporary look similar to Whole Foods with varying historic features. Feedback from the neighbors led to no clear consensus in favor of any of the designs, said Stirling vice president Peter Aamodt, so the developers and Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office went back to the drawing board with a new architect, John Williams.
The end result, Aamodt told a group of neighbors Wednesday evening, is an Italianate, turn-of-the-century style building that “fits more contextually with Magazine Street.” “It’s a drastic change from the way we were going, and we hope it’s widely accepted,” Aamodt said. The natural brick facade will still have large windows to give the interior a transparent feeling, and much of the interior structure will be exposed, Williams said.