2321 State Street (via City of New Orleans)
A home on State Street in the university area will be spared demolition instead of being replaced by two other houses after review by the City Council last week.
The owner of 2321 State Street — which property records show to be a company registered to real-estate agent Charlotte Dorion — had hoped to tear down the house and replace it with two homes, because it is on a double lot, said City Councilwoman Susan Guidry.
That plan brought opposition from Erin Holmes of the Preservation Resource Center.
“It is yet another inappropriately targeted Uptown property that is in perfect condition and needs to be reused,” Holmes told the City Council at their meeting Thursday.
Guidry agreed, calling the house an “early 20th-century colonial revival structure, which is very much reflective of the character of this neighborhood.” She said the owners could still fit a second house on the property while allowing the original house to be renovated and preserved, and moved to deny the demolition request with that possibility in mind.
“I believe we are stewards of the old New Orleans architecture in this city, and we have a responsibility to the next generations to preserve our unique architectural heritage wherever possible,” Guidry said.
No one spoke in favor of the demolition, and the City Council approved Guidry’s motion unanimously.
City Council did something right for the neighborhood. What was Dorian thinking when she purchased this magnificent property?
BTW – Charlotte Dorion sold this property on May 25, 2016. She is no longer the owner, and it was the new owner that applied for demolition.
Robert,
Please correct your story. I am not the owner of 2321 State St. I sold that property on 5/26/2016. I sold that property to an investor from out of state who is interested in helping to rebuild New Orleans. You obviously have not seen the inside of the house. It is structurally unsound, it is still gutted on the basement level (from Katrina), the only salvageable architectural detail on the house are the shutters. 9′ ceilings on the upper level and 6.5′ on the lower with walls that have 2″ cracks, with bows/hills in the flooring. The sunporch that was added is encroaching on the other lot, which makes it difficult to build 2 houses on the property. I would be happy to meet you at the property so you can see with your own eyes that it is a tear down. It’s completely uninhabitable and there’s no way for a first time homebuyer to be able to afford the amount of money it would take to get the house in habitable conditions. Conversely, the area is not conducive to build or add-on to make a $1M+ house. The best use is to tear it down, built 2 houses (each lot being 30×147), sell each house separately, thus not over-building for the neighborhood.
Now the house will be left sitting, which is unfortunate.
Feel free to call me to discuss.
-Charlotte Dorion