A New Orleans Riverfront Development Expansion Approved

 The development that runs along the riverfront of Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to the Lower Garden District will be expanding. The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to extend a 47-acre special-zoning distract that allows relaxed height restrictions upriver.

The state owns a good bit of the district but the 16-acre add-on is owned by private owners. This includes property from Orange Street to Celest Street. The owners of this additional portion include Louis Lauricella and Brian Gibbs.

The new plan will also include more affordable housing that was not part of the original development. Now any residential development in the district will have 10% of the units dedicated to people who has an income less than 60% of the area’s median income. In addition, another 10% is set aside for those who do not exceed 120% of the median income.

In the new plan, there will also be a new multipurpose facility that will be located in the parking lot that is right across from the convention center at the Pontchartrain Expressway. Developers would like to see a facility that could potentially house a United Soccer League for New Orleans.

Currently, a great majority of the land is covered with tent encampments. The city wants to develop a plan to help relocate those that are living in tents on the land. “I’ve asked them to study whether or not there’s the feasibility of acquiring a hotel, or some other building to increase housing for people who are unhoused. We have so many abandoned properties, so many abandoned hotels. I think that there’s a possibility of rehabbing those,” explains District B Council member Lesli Harris.

The expanded development will house 900 mixed-income residential units worth around $250 million on the vacant Convention Center land. There will be around 850 apartment/hotel-style units, a hotel with 150 rooms, 400,000 square feet of office space and 140,000 square feet of retail. They will also build a linear park that will help with drainage and add space for public transit facilities.

The plan for the 16-acre parcel that is owned by the two private owners is still up in the air. The owners would like to convert the old power plant into an entertainment venue with a hotel and office space. Harris said this is still being looked at and is debatable whether the plans will be accepted.

“What I would like to do is keep the most impactful activities to the riverside so that it’s not really impeding into the neighborhood,” says Harris.

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A Multimillion-Dollar Tax Break For Plaquemines LNG and Venture Global LNG

 Two industrial projects in Plaquemines and Caldwell parishes were granted multimillion-dollar tax breaks which were approved by The Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry. Venture Global LNG received $29.8 million in payroll rebates for its Plaquemines LNG terminal.

This will be the second state tax break for Plaquemines LNG, the first was in 2016 and was an Industrial Tax Exemption Program. That tax break totaled $83.5 million in the first year of the contract. This was part of the contract they had filed with Louisiana Economic Development which is a state agency. With the new incentive, there will be around 413 new jobs created with a total payroll of $497 million over a 10-year period.

Louisiana Green Fuels plant located in Columbia will be given a break for $33.5 million in property taxes. The Caldwell Parish company is worth around $1.95 billion and will only have to pay around $8.38 million during the first year of its contract with the state. This plant is slated to be operational in 2026.

Company officials say this plant will be used to create renewable diesel. They will convert wood waste into fuel. Five permanent jobs will be created along with 1,050 construction jobs total $248 million total payroll.

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2023 Began With A Boom

Mortgage applications rose during the first weeks of 2023 and the housing market was still going strong. It was reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that the week ending January 13, 2023 mortgage applications rose 27.9% from the week before. This is still 35% below the levels that were reported in January 2022.

“Mortgage rates are now at their lowest level since September 2022, and about a percentage point below the peak mortgage rate last fall. As we enter the beginning of the spring buying season, lower mortgage rates and more homes on the market will help affordability for first-time homebuyers,” says MBA chief economist Mike Fratantoni.

The end of 2022 the housing market was slowing down due to high home prices and rising mortgage rates that have doubled since 2021. “We’re seeing decade-low readings for just about every index that you can imagine for housing,” says NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz.

The lack of inventory is causing the market to slow and experts say that the months ahead will slow down even more. This is a great time to get out there and purchase a home. Choose a realtor who can help you from start to finish and help find your dream home.

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What Is a Land Improvement Loan?

Often, people are landowners sitting on land that can be developed. Some landowners sit on land to sell to someone else, harvest timber and pine straw, a hunting camp, retreat or they might want to build a nice home one day. Most of the time you will need to do some sort of improvements to your land. If you need to do a big improvement, you could need a land improvement loan.

First South Farm Credit, which was founded in 1916 is the perfect place to go when a landowner needs a loan. They offer financial services for rural communities, covering farming operations including crops, and livestock, assistance in financing rural home construction, and other types of rural property improvements. They offer services for landowners in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

“If you are playing or working in the dirt, we want to be in there with you as long as you are improving the value of that dirt, which is the collateral for the loan. Whether it be roads, barns, ponds, timber management as in thinning or clear-cutting, controlled burns or establishing wildlife habitat,” says Taylor Hart, manager of FSFC in Opelika, Al.

Land improvement loans do have standard financing terms. This 15% down payment can be either cash or the property (free and clear). As mentioned earlier, a land improvement loan can cover many things. Road construction and repair come under this loan and will also potentially increase the value of the property. These can include roads, trails, or small bridges that allow easier property access. “Opening up some roadways is an opportunity for increased access which adds value to a property,” explains Hart.

Other things it can be used for are timber management and property clearing. Landowners can use this timber as a long-term renewable revenue stream and harvest the wood section by section. If you clear-cut it all at once and use the property for agricultural land, food plots or replant seedlings.

Pond construction also falls under this type of loan. ” The general thought is that any type of water feature increases the value of a property whether it is for fishing, duck hunting, or irrigation of crops. Water has a way of relaxing people. We typically look at the cost as well as the value that will be added by the water feature,” Hart said.

Another item that can be considered is a collateral improvement which are things of value that are on the property. These are things such as replanting of seedling trees after harvesting them, pine straw harvest, clear cut to-open areas for food plots, controlled burns or fire lanes.

“In terms of pine straw harvest, typically you have to have longleaf pine and the implementation and management of the operation increases the value of the property because you have developed a stream of income,” Hart stated.

If you want to use the property in the future to build a home you can also get a loan to build. Depending on your profile and the amount of equity you have in the property you can obtain a loan for around 85% of the value.

If you are in the market for some land or have some land and need advice on what to use it for, check with a local realtor. A local realtor can help you through the whole process.

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