business

Jean-Paul Villere: Bring on the gumbo party

By |

I want to tell you a story, though it’s a tired one.  It’s one of watermarks, floodlines, and rust.  It’s one of great sadness, overwhelming emotions, and glorious reunitings.  One that over the last 10 years most Americans are tired of hearing, and one that many New Orleanians have a version of.  It’s Katrina.  And Rita.  And levees breaking.  And the curious nine years that followed the moisture-rotted rollercoaster of events in latter 2005 in the Crescent City.  And while my tale unfurls I will ask you to remember two words: gumbo party. Among other quizzical post-K recovery notions, recently the question has been placed (and by more than a few): is the New Orleans housing market in a bubble?  And, of course, everyone has an answer.  My answer is: no.  But why does my opinion count?  Maybe it doesn’t.  But maybe it does.  Maybe because I’ve lived these last nine years with my ear to the ground, following my passions in real estate. Or, more importantly, maybe because when my wife and I returned to New Orleans we doubled down, quite literally, and had two more daughters and began reinvesting ourselves in our return.  If we are to be washed away again – and chances are good – we’ll at least be in more and good company. One may argue the film industry has been driving the real estate market, and some would say that’s right on. Long seated largely bi-coastally, the purveyors of film and television have steadfastly and albeit largely due to state tax credits found a new home in the Pelican State.

blight and demolition

St. Charles Avenue streetlight repairs to begin in September, mayor says

By |

When New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked the residents of City Council District B how the city should spend their tax money Tuesday night, the answers nearly all involved streets: the holes in them, the lack of light on them, and the people who sleep on them. Most of those problems — like all of those before the 300-year-old city — lack easy answers, and have been compounding for decades, Landrieu replied. But on at least one complaint, there is a glimmer of hope: the long-darkened streetlights along St. Charles Avenue are scheduled for repair in September. Public-input sessions about the budget are a yearly exercise for Landrieu (Curious how much, or little, things have changed?

business

A “new” New Orleans needs entrepreneurs — but also more jobs for unemployed black men, business leaders say

By |

The entrepreneurship boom in New Orleans is a real phenomenon, and a crucial factor in the city’s continued rebirth — but it must also be accompanied by more economic opportunities for the unsustainable number of jobless African-American men in the city, a panel of business leaders said Thursday evening. “We can get there,” said Rod Miller, CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance. “We are a ‘new’ New Orleans, but we’re not our best New Orleans.” Five panelists — the city’s economic development chief, an industry leader, two entrepreneurial activists and a journalist — convened Thursday night at Tulane Hillel for a discussion called “New Orleans 2.0: Fact or Fiction?” as part of “The Big Issue” conversation series.

business

Panel at Tulane to ask, Is there really a “new” New Orleans?

By |

Has post-Katrina rebuilding really created a new city out of New Orleans, or is the “boom” more of an artificial economic bubble that is bound to burst? This question will drive the next installment of Tulane Hillel’s occasional series of “The Big Issue” discussions, set for Thursday evening with the title “New Orleans 2.0: Fact or Fiction?” For details, see the news release below:

New Orleans 2.0: Fact or Fiction? Panelists to Discuss Economic Growth and Sustainability

Tulane Hillel Hosts Fifth Installment of “The Big Issue” Debate, A New Series Designed to Give All Sides an Equal Voice

Since 2005, New Orleans has come to represent a true 21st Century example of how an American city can face extreme challenge, survive and then emerge leaner, stronger and better. Or …

city government

With state funding issues “fixed,” long-delayed community center in Carrollton requests more time

By |

A long-delayed plan to create a new community center on Monroe Street in west Carrollton — now slated to be a new home for Hollygrove’s Trinity Christian Community — received a thumbs-up from the New Orleans City Planning Commission on Tuesday, and organizers say they now have the funding in line for the project to move forward. The three-building complex is slated for a vacant lot in the 1700 block of Monroe, midway between Hickory and Green streets. Started with funding secured by the late state Rep. Alex Heaton in 2004, the project first received City Council approval in January 2005, but Hurricane Katrina derailed the project and scattered its organizers, said Kevin Brown, executive director of Trinity Christian Community, which has been hailed for its role in reducing crime in Hollygrove. Heaton approached Brown for Trinity Christian Community to get involved, and the Council granted an extension of their permission in April 2010. After that, however, Brown discovered that the funding was contained in a budgetary line-item he could not access, and straightening that out was complicated by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s general opposition to state funding for non-governmental organizations, Brown said.

city government

State hurricane committee joins Cantrell in questioning Road Home letters

By |

The state lawmakers who sit on the legislature’s Hurricane Recovery Committee will take up the issue of “intimidating” Road Home collection letters previously raised by New Orleans City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell in a meeting this evening (Monday, Feb. 24), officials said. Anyone in the state who has received the letters is encouraged to attend the meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers at New Orleans City Hall, according to a news release from Cantrell’s office:

The Louisiana Legislature’s joint Hurricane Recovery Committee will meet 5:30 pm Monday, February 24 in New Orleans City Council Chambers. The committee will address Road Home collection letters that have been sent to homeowners, demanding repayment of program grants that were originally dispersed for rebuilding houses following Hurricane Katrina. Road Home has been sending these letters to homeowners, who properly used the funds to fix their homes.

city government

Council member, legislators to hold hearing on Road Home letters

By |

New Orleans City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell and several state legislators will discuss the recent round of Road Home letters sent to homeowners at 5 p.m. today (Monday, Jan. 27) in the City Council chambers. For details, see the announcement from Cantrell’s office below:

WHO: Louisiana Legislature’s Joint Hurricane Recovery Committee (with state Sens. J.P. Morrell and Edwin Murray, and state Rep. Neil Abramson), and New Orleans Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell. State’s Office of Community Development Director Pat Forbes will provide staff to address homeowners’ concerns one-on-one.

business

Martin Wine Cellar on “fast track” to March construction and September opening, owner says

By |

Although the site of the former Martin Wine Cellar on Baronne Street remains a quiet concrete foundation, neighbors have been cheered by the sounds of construction at the old New Orleans Bicycle Club building next door, and owner Cedric Martin says rebuilding his beloved grocery remains on track to begin in March and finish six months later. “We are on the fast track,” Martin told the Delachaise Neighborhood Association on Tuesday night, to applause. “If it goes all by the plan, we will be open Sept. 15.” Martin said that he will have received all the bids from the contractors by February, and that financing for the rebuilding project has already been pre-approved.

business

City designates O.C. Haley Boulevard in $1 million renovation-grant program

By |

Buildings along a 10-block stretch of Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard are now eligible for grants of up to $50,000 to help with the costs of historic renovations, as part of a $1 million “Main Street”-style program across New Orleans announced by Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Tuesday. O.C. Haley Boulevard is one of four sites across the city targeted in the program — the others are on Bayou Road and two parts of St. Claude Avenue. For more details, see the full news release below or watch the video of the news conference above:

Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) announced the launch of NORA’s Façade RENEW Program, a grant program designed to incentivize commercial property and small business owners to revitalize storefronts and building façades in four targeted areas of the city. The program will make a total of $1 million in one-time, matching grants available to commercial property and business owners to upgrade and preserve historic integrity of their buildings.

city government

Cantrell pledges help for those “harassed” by Road Home letters

By |

City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell promised Thursday to assist any District B residents living in a home rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina who has received a letter from Road Home. For details, see the full news release from Cantrell’s office below:

It feels like a stab in the back. The state’s Road Home program has been sending letters to homeowners, many of them seniors, stating that these owners “haven’t met their covenant.” The letters have been sent despite these homeowners currently living in their homes and having used the state funds for repairs. “This is bureaucracy at its worst,” says New Orleans City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell. “Talk about a broken covenant.