The former Times-Picayune building at 3800 Howard Avenue (photographed in August 2016 by Google Maps)
A hearing on the as-yet-undisclosed undisclosed redevelopment of the former Times-Picayune building on Howard Avenue was postponed until February after city planners gave a skeptical review to the initial plan for the project.
The request for high-intensity mixed-use zoning at 3800 Howard Avenue was slated for review by the City Planning Commission on Tuesday, but the city’s planning staff had recommended against its approval. That zoning district — which could have allowed a structure 85 feet tall — was too intense for the area, and represented an unjustified loss of industrial land in the city, the staff had argued.
The application seeks the zoning to “to prepare the site for development, but does not state the development plans for the property,” said city planner Nick Kindel.
Facing those headwinds, the development group requested a deferral from the city planning commission Tuesday. Without any discussion of the project itself, the commission agreed unanimously to postpone its discussion until Feb. 7.
