events

Community effort clears out trash, fills up potholes in Hollygrove-Dixon

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More than 60 bags of trash and more than a dozen bulk items were carted away from the Hollygrove-Dixon area on Saturday (Oct. 8), the Mayor’s Neighborhood Engagement Office reported. The cleanup was part of the Neighborhood Cares Initiative, a comprehensive, coordinated initiative combining the efforts of multiple city departments and volunteers from the community. More than 30 volunteers participated. On Saturday and throughout the previous week, city departments patched over 100 potholes, cut 29 overgrown lots and cleared dumping sites throughout the neighborhood.

business

Staff of life: Talking with Bellegarde Bakery’s new worker-owners

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Bellegarde Bakery, named for what was possibly New Orleans’ first bakery (established in 1722), has joined the small but growing ranks of cooperatively owned and run businesses in New Orleans. The acclaimed bakery at 8300 Apple St. in Hollygrove was founded in 2012 by Graison Gill with a mission to produce high-quality naturally fermented breads made with flour milled in-house. After 10 years, Gill announced his intent to move to London to start a new bakery there. Rather than sell the New Orleans business, he and his team worked to orchestrate a transition to a worker-cooperative model.

land use & development

Developers break ground on Grove Place affordable housing complex

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Developers, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, District A Councilman Joe Giarrusso, members of the Hollygrove Neighborhood Association and other officials broke ground Tuesday (July 20) on the Grove Place affordable housing development. City officials and the developer touted the planned Grove Place community as providing affordable rents for 32 households in an area with easy access to public transportation to multiple job centers. Grove Place is expected to be move-in ready by summer 2023. The land has approximately 360 foot of frontage on Earhart Boulevard and takes up the entire square block between Monroe and Leonidas streets, a total of 1.8 acres. The development includes 23 historic rehabilitated units and nine newly constructed units.

land use & development

Hollygrove tract is set to be redeveloped into affordable housing

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When Paul Irons and his sister Marseah were growing up, they regularly passed the corner of Monroe Street and Earhart Boulevard a block and a half from their Hollygrove home. “I remember when it was a Church’s Chicken. I remember when it was not a Church’s Chicken,” said Irons, noting that four generations of his family have called Hollygrove home. “And I remember seeing it vacant for a long period of time.”
At last week’s City Council meeting, Irons and Marseah Delatte, managing partners with New Orleans Restoration Properties, saw the council members give unanimous approval to their plan to develop the now-blighted square block — including the cement slab where the Church’s used to be — into affordable housing. The Grove Place complex promises 43 affordable housing units in an area with convenient access to multiple job centers.

city government

City planners approve affordable housing development for Hollygrove

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An affordable housing development planned for Hollygrove has won the unanimous approval of the City Planning Commission. Called Grove Place, the development would take up an entire square, about 1.8 acres, bounded by Earhart Boulevard and Monroe, Leonidas and Colapissa streets. Eleven existing doubles and triplexes, now vacant, will be renovated. The developers, New Orleans Restoration Properties, are also planning to construct a three-story 20-unit apartment building at Earhart and Monroe, on a site that once held a Church’s Chicken. That section of the property has commercial zoning, requiring a use exception from the city for the multi-family residential building.

land use & development

Microbrewery and restaurant planned for former Hollygrove Market site

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A restaurant and brewery complex is in the works for the area behind the Carrollton Avenue post office that was once home to the Hollygrove Market. On what is now an empty lot with some abandoned industrial buildings, developers are planning the Catalyst Microbrewery and Restaurant. The redeveloped site at 8301 Olive St. will include two buildings, one for the brewery and another for the restaurant, with off-street parking, outdoor seating and an urban garden. The urban garden is apropos for the site’s history.

colleges

Xavier students showcase work in timely exhibit at Ogden Museum of Southern Art

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For the seventh year, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art has partnered with the New Orleans Chapter of The Links, a women’s volunteer service organization, to present a showcase featuring art from students at a historically Black college or university. This year, 12 students from Xavier University have work featured in the exhibit: Kennedi Andrus, Allana Barefield, KaLya Ellis, Barriane Franks, Lauren Gray, Ashley A. Miller, Reid Hobson-Powell, La’Shance Perry, Michael Riley, Makeda Wells, Bryce Williams and Maliya Vaughan. For many students, it’s the first time their work is featured in a gallery. La’Shance Perry, a senior at Xavier from Cincinnati, Ohio, majoring in mass communications and minoring in art, said the experience has made her feel validated as an artist, something that she has struggled with lately. “I guess I’ll say I can be self-conscious about my work, which is why I haven’t shared a lot,” she said.

flood protection and drainage

Major roadwork project begins in Hollygrove and Leonidas

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A $15.1 million roadwork project is scheduled to begin today (Monday, April 6) in Hollygrove and Lenonidas, the Mayor’s Office announced. It’s part of a massive capital improvement program for the roads and drainage systems that the city is under a deadline to complete. The $2.2 billion citywide infrastructure program, with more than 200 individual projects, is financed through FEMA, Housing and Urban Development, the Sewerage & Water Board and city bonds. The federal funding has a time limit, city officials say. The infrastructure program is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

crime

Fanny pack snatched from 73-year-old on Hollygrove street

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A 73-year-old man was robbed in Hollygrove on Sunday, the New Orleans Police Department reported. The victim was in the 8700 block of Apricot Street on May 5 at about 1 p.m. when he was pushed to the ground by a man who grabbed his fanny pack. The victim was able to recover his property, but the assailant was not identified or located. Further details were not immediately available. Anyone with information is urged to call the NOPD Second District station at 504-658-6020 to speak to a detective, or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 to leave an anonymous tip that could be eligible for a cash reward.

crime

Four people sought in shoplifting incident at Earhart Boulevard store

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The New Orleans Police Department is searching for four suspects, shown above, wanted for shoplifting in the Second District. The incident occurred on March 2 around 4 p.m. in the 8300 block of Earhart Boulevard. Four people entered the store together and browsed items before making a small purchase. As the group was leaving, one of them reached into a display stand and removed numerous items and left the store without paying. When confronted by a store employee, the foursome entered a silver or light-tan 2012 Nissan Rouge bearing Louisiana license plate VTE583 and to South Carrollton Avenue.