This site, originally part of a 9-acre site, came to the developer as a result of its persistence in working with local owners and brokers. The site was of particular interest to the developer because of its frontage on the Lafitte Greenway and adjacency to Bayou St. John. Entitlements were achieved after working through numerous hurdles including gaining approval from the New Orleans City Council, who voted unanimously for the project. Ultimately, developer was able to achieve an almost 50% density bonus. A 12-year PILOT was simultaneously approved for the project through the Industrial Development Board. This project includes both 368 market-rate and 14 affordable housing “set-aside” units, which were the necessary incentive to achieve the density bonus. These affordable units are leased to tenants at 30% of AMI (Area Meidan Income) level. AMI is set annually by HUD. 2022 AMI for these units is $16,450 for a single person/$18,800 for two-person tenancy. The 2022 unit rental for these fourteen units is $411-470 per month, through a program established between the developer and Americorps City Year. City Year provides 1 year teaching internships to college graduates, in exchange for a stipend (equivalent to 30% AMI) and various other educational incentives.
The land was a former rail service yard, and recently home to industrial warehouse buildings. The property was parceled off from a nine-acre piece. The residual 4-acre parcel calls for future mixed-use development that would include retail, restaurant and recreation-oriented uses to take advantage of the property’s adjacency to Bayou St. John and the Lafitte Greenway.
The Bayou offers a picturesque body of water with levees on either side that help to form a narrow park space within the Mid-City and Parkview neighborhoods, along the surrounding City Park area. With access to Lake Pontchartrain, the Bayou offers recreational activities such as kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boarding. In 2015 the City of New Orleans opened the Lafitte Greenway, a 2.6-mile rails to trails re-development that provides bicycle and pedestrian trail and green corridor which essentially serves to connect City Park and an array of neighborhoods to the edge of the French Quarter. As the project aligns the greenway and Conti Street, southeast of Carrollton Avenue (a main commercial corridor), the project is considered a multi-modal development and has been programmed as such, with bicycle access. French Truck Coffee, notably, is located immediately along the multi-use path. New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) provides streetcar transportation along Carrollton Avenue from City Park to downtown New Orleans within the Mid-City neighborhood. Beginning with the announcement of this significant project, commercial development along the greenway has been vibrant, bringing an array of recreational, dining and entertainment venues.
