New Orleans Convention Center to Expand Its Economic Reach

With the latest addition of developed riverfront property on the Mississippi River in and around the French Quarter, many local New Orleans’ businesses have expressed an interest in developing riverfront property into usable and money-making ventures to encourage more visitors, tourists, and business to come to New Orleans.  Because of this, there are plans for the New Orleans Convention Center to expand its economic reach “upriver” on 47 acres of property.  Owners of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center are in talks with Howard Hughes Corp. and local developers Joe Jaeger and Darryl Berger to build a 1,200 room hotel which would also be surrounded with retail, New Orleans Convention Center Plans New Developmententertainment, restaurants, and housing in the form of condos and apartments.

Because the current configuration of the Convention Center is “walled off” from the river, this new construction project will offer guests riverfront views, luxurious rooms in which to stay, and even a path from the new development to the current convention center for their meetings and seminars.  This $65 million proposal would revamp Convention Boulevard, reducing it from 4 lanes to 2, and creating pedestrian-friendly walking areas for convention goers.

In addition to the hotel on which the construction is estimated at approximately $360 million to $600 million, there are also talks about creating a green space that extends all the way to the river – similar to but better than Woldenberg Park.  The infrastructure construction would also include adding on to the streets of Euterpe, Race and Orange in the Lower Garden District so that the neighborhood would be connected to the new development.

“We’ve got to reclaim the parts that are not being used for maritime commerce and make the river a gathering place for our people and our visitors — generate some commerce, generate some opportunities for visitors and locals alike to come downtown and have a unique shopping experience or unique dining experience or some other attraction that’s uniquely New Orleans,” said Bob Johnson, president and general manager of the Morial Convention Center.  “It would dwarf anything that’s been done, ever, in the city,” Johnson said.

Plans are still in the works and the new neighborhood is being designed by Eskew+Dumez+Ripple and Manning Architects.  This is just one of many riverfront projects that are in the planning stages in the Greater New Orleans area.

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Plaquemines Parish Experiences a Growth in Home Prices

Plaquemines Parish, specifically Belle Chasse, saw a 7.9% growth in home prices during the first 6 months of 2015 according to Wade Ragas, local real estate consultant and expert.  The 7.9% growth was based on numbers pulled just before Hurricane Katrina, and overall in the Greater New Orleans area, home prices have jumped 50% since just before Katrina.  On the Southshore, the average sale price for a single-family home in New Orleans went from $114 / square foot to $166 / square foot which was a different in home pricing of $228,620 vs. $339,743.  Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish saw the 2nd highest increase in home prices in Greater New Orleans followed by a 6% increase in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Home prices on the Southshore in New Orleans have risen on average 4.6% per year for a record-high increase of 46%.  All numbers culminated for the 8-parish region surrounding Lake Pontchartrain in the Greater New Orleans area saw an increase in home prices of 18.6%, which is still a pretty significant increase for a 10-year period.  However, interestingly, Jefferson Parish home pricing has not “moved” very much at all since Hurricane Katrina.

Homes for sale in Jefferson Parish have remained nearly the same pricing overall in this period with only a 1%Home Prices Grow in New Orleans growth in 10 years.  The average price of a home in Jefferson Parish is $194,510 which equals approximately $106 / square foot.  Spikes of home pricing in Jefferson Parish can be seen in prominent neighborhoods such as Old Metairie and Bucktown where the average price of a home is $494,724 amounting to $204 / square foot.

The Greater New Orleans area can actually be compared to larger metros in its growth rate.  These metros, such as Dallas, Houston, or Miami were seeing similar growth according to Ragas.

“We have a surge in demand, but we don’t have enough inventory to keep that at an affordable level,” Ragas said. “Problems like this tend to solve themselves if markets are left alone.”

Ragas claims that there is a supply of buyers but not such a large supply of homes to be purchased, which have led to bidding wars for homes located in safe and quality neighborhoods in the city.  The Parks of Plaquemines, located just across the river from New Orleans offers new lots for sale as well as new homes for sale.  When buying a new home in our master planned community, you can avoid the high price of purchasing a home in the city of New Orleans with lower taxes, lower utilities, and a much higher level of safety.  For More Information about purchasing a home at The Parks of Plaquemines, Contact Us at 504-364-2350 or E-mail [email protected].

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Algiers Fall Festival in Federal City on the West Bank

This year is the first year that Algiers will host a fall festival on September 26, 2015, from 11:00am – 7:00pm.  The Algiers Fall Festival in Federal City is celebrating the military and Algiers community on the West Bank.  This family event will have live music, local food trucks, local art vendors, children’s activities, beer and wine. Many local favorites will serve you with great food and drinks. These include Big Dog BBQ on DA Go, Bite-N-Go Express, The Holy Grill, Kenny’s Cajun & Creole, King Sham Boiling & Grill on Wheels, La Cocinita, Nola Girl Food, Pirate Pizza, Sweet “T” Old Fashioned Homemade Treats, Taylor Made Wings on the Geaux and Ye Olde Kettle Vendor. Ochsner Health System, a sponsor of the festival, will also have their ribbon cutting ceremony on their new facility in Federal City during the Algiers Fall Festival at 1:30pm. There will be free food provided and free group fitness classes!

New Orleans is known for its great music festivals, and the Algiers Fall Festival is sure to live up to the city’s hype. The music line-up will include the Marine Corps Band New Orleans which will headline at 11:00am, followed by The Young Pinstripe Brass Band at 12:30pm, Little Freddie King at 2:00pm, The Bucktown All-Stars at 3:30pm, and willAlgiers Fall Festival end with Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band at 5:30pm.

Here is a little background on each of the bands that will perform.  The Young Pinstripe Brass Band combines jazz, funk, soul, rock and hip-hop.  Originating out of New Orleans, this band exudes the energy and talent from the streets of New Orleans by using traditional brass sound in modern music. The Bucktown All-Stars, famous for their true Cresent City flavor, prides themselves in “bringing their A game” whenever they perform.  This band will bring high energy mix of rock, soul, funk, R&B and legendary New Orleans classics to the festival.

Local Leader and Legend of New Orleans, Little Freddie King has been performing for fifty-five years. Many love the sounds of his American root blues with a mix of country and urban blues.  Of course it would not be a Louisiana festival without a little zydeco.  Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band, pure zydeco music, has recorded five CD’s and traveled the world.

For more information on the Algiers Fall Festival go to www.algiersdevelopment.com or call 504-367-3331.  Presented by First NBC and sponsored by Ochsner Health System, Jones Walker, First Bank and Trust, Navy Federal Credit Union, Beurman Miller Fitzgerald, Pickering & Cotogno, Sean Bruno, CPA, Algiers Development Corporation, Algiers Development District, and Joint Development Committee.

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Westpark Office Building in Algiers Sold for Development

The Westpark office building in Algiers has been sold to local purchasers Thomas Guinan Jr. and Harold Callais II. The building which is the third largest on the West Bank is located off General DeGaulle Drive.  It is a six-story, 109,000-square-foot office building that is the center of Westpark Office Park. The purchase of the building included 7 acres of green space, 500 parking spaces and two helicopter landing pads. The building was built in 1983 and is approximately seven minutes from the Central Business District and has direct access to major shopping and residential areas such as the Parks of Plaquemines.

Until this year, the only tenant to occupy the whole building was FEMA.  The Federal Emergency ManagementWestpark Office Building Agency moved into the building after Hurricane Katrina.  The new owners plan to lease to multiple local and regional businesses for now but in the future they might convert the office building to condominiums.

The previous owner of the property was Hertz Investment Group which is based out of California.  They purchased the building for $7 million in 2005. They are a real estate investment company that focuses on acquiring, marketing and managing extraordinary properties around the United States. The successful company has revitalized many buildings that include the Wiltern Center and Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, Verizon Building in Pittsburg and Dominion Tower in New Orleans.

Hertz Investment Group is known as the “dominant landlord” of the Central Business District.  The company has acquired and still owns many New Orleans spots including First Bank & Trust Tower, the Poydras Center, the former Texaco building, 400 Poydras Tower, One Shell Square, the Dominion Tower and the Energy Centre.  These are all premier properties located on Poydras Street. Their latest acquisition is One Shell Square which is the largest office building in Louisiana.  This is said to be the largest acquisition in Hertz’s history which was for more than $417 million. This goes to show that New Orleans has a strong local office building market.  “This a great vote of confidence in the local office building market,” said real estate analyst Wade Ragas.

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Zatarain’s Builds a New Production Facility in Gretna

Zatarain’s, the market leader in boiling products, has built a new production facility in Gretna. Gretna’s current facility is where all Zatarain’s products except frozen and ready-to-serve items are made and distributed. The company’s yearly nationwide sales are $250 million dollars with 6 million cases of products produced annually. Out of the $250 million dollars sold, $37 million comes from the rice mixes. This is important for New Orleans because most of the rice used is purchased from Louisiana local growers.

New Orleans is currently the heart of the market for Zatarain’s products which are sold nationwide. Crawfish seasonNew Facility for Zatarain's is the only time food-service-size packages are sold at retail in New Orleans.

General Manager Jill Pratt said, “The Walmart on Tchoupitoulas sells so much that if they don’t have extra, they will run out on the weekend.” Zatarian’s recognizes Nola’s loyalty to their products by contributing $1 million a year to various local sponsorships and charities.

More than 200 different Zatarian’s products are made in Gretna which prompted the building of the new facility. The new building is located on First Street in what is known as the industrial Gretna neighborhood. The $26 million dollar facility’s foundation sits atop 900 pilings that have been driven into the ground supporting the 80,000-square-foot plant. The new plant will speed up the process they call “ribbon blending” where the product is blended from 10 minutes to 1 minute. This plant is also responsible for around 300 stock keeping units (SKU’s) and individual products and is the location of the research and developmental kitchen where side dish mixes are created.

July 13, 2015 was a proud day for locals here in Gretna as the plant’s 200 plus employees toasted to root beer at the ribbon cutting ceremony. Root beer extract is Zatarians’s best-selling product on Amazon.com and was Emile Zatarain’s first product sold.

 

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