blight and demolition

Freret corner store, film studio on Constance both win council approval

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A Freret corner store’s request for permission to sell alcohol and a proposal to allow conversion of a Lower Garden District warehouse into a film studio — two ideas that had drawn wary interest from their respective neighborhood groups — were both approved this week by the City Council. After finding strong opposition from some neighbors at earlier stages in the process, Supermercado Las Acacias on Freret Street appeared before the City Council on Thursday with the news that it had come to terms with the Freret Business and Property Owners Assocation and Neighbors United by way of a good-neighbor agreement. “We are all in consensus with the two neighborhood groups, however, the documents have not been executed,” said Morris Reed, an attorney representing building owner Cai Le. “They will be executed at a later date, probably Monday or Tuesday before the end of business.” Under the terms set by the City Council, Las Acacias will be able to sell alcohol as long as it is packaged for off-premises consumption.

business

Proposed Lower Garden District film studio ekes out planning commission approval

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A new film studio proposed for an old warehouse complex in the Lower Garden District won an important step in the process of city approval Tuesday, over the concerns of several planning commissioners who worried that the site could one day be home to heavy industry. Sam Farnet, owner of Joey K’s restaurant on Magazine Street, is seeking mixed-use zoning for a warehouse complex at the corner of Constance and Orange streets that he says he hopes to transform into a film-production facility, though he has not yet finalized negotiations with a tenant. The surrounding neighborhood group, the Coliseum Square Association, said in March that they trust Farnet as a developer, but are concerned that if his project falls through, a less-desirable project allowed by the mixed-use zoning may open in its stead, such as, they noted, a chicken slaughterhouse. The planning commission had postponed a decision on the question for a month in order to give Farnet and the neighborhood more time to reach a compromise. Farnet said later that he had met with the association’s president a day before Tuesday’s planning meeting, and that they decided to seek another extension on the decision, but were told the project deadline was looming and had to be handled at Tuesday’s meeting.

blight and demolition

New bed-and-breakfast proposed in antebellum Lower Garden District house

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An antebellum mansion on Constance Street could become the Lower Garden District’s latest bed and breakfast after the neighborhood association gave the owner its blessing Monday night. Homeowner Matt Ryan told the Coliseum Square Association that he spent about four years renovating the historic house at 1431 Constance, which was built in 1852 by noted New Orleans architect Henry Howard. Ryan has given previous consideration to operating bed-and-breakfasts in the past, and Ryan said he has decided that the income it would bring would help him defray the expenses of the renovation and the upkeep. “If taxes go up or insurance goes up, we’re going to be in really bad shape,” Ryan said. Ryan said he would live on the house’s third floor, leaving room for two suites downstairs and two in a small side cottage.

business

New architect’s office on lower Magazine, expansion of McGehee school into new building both get approval

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A proposed architect’s office and condo project on Magazine Street and the use of a St. Charles Avenue mansion as a classroom building for the Louise S. McGehee school both took a step forward with approval from the City Planning Commission this week. The Magazine Street project will build an office and residential loft for Chenevert Architects at 1476 Magazine and four condominium-style apartments behind it along Race Street on a vacant parking lot that was once a gas station decades ago. The plan drew some opposition from nearby neighbors, but carried with it the enthusiastic approval of the surrounding Coliseum Square Association. “We feel the archictecture office in this proposal is not going to generate a lot of traffic.