Algiers Point Sees Plans For A Multi-Use Development

 David Fuselier, a real estate developer, wants to put a multi-use development that will include a grocery store, single-family houses and condominiums on 10 acres in Algiers Point. The property was once home to a local steam locomotives manufacturer.

The 10-acre site, located at 1200 Opelousas Ave, is the biggest undeveloped piece of land on Algiers Point. Unfortunately, contaminants were found on the land from decades of diesel fuel spills but in December 2020 after the issue had been rectified, Louisiana issued a certificate of completion.

In January 2020 Fuselier and his partners his sister, Megan Fuselier Spiehler; Stuart Coleman; and Andrew
Coleman, purchased the land for close to $3.9 million. They plan to begin construction in the Fall of 2021 and is slated to complete in two years. The partners hired architecture firm Concordia and will hold a meeting with the architect firm and the public for input.

If approved by the New Orleans Planning Commission and the City Council, they plan to build a 22,000-square-foot grocery store with a rooftop restaurant and bar. Although they have not signed with any grocery store tenant, they feel optimistic.

“We’ll have one soon,” Fuselier said. “We’re going to be talking to every local and national grocery tenant we can think of. There’s gonna be a lot of effort put into attracting the best that we can find.”

Plans show there will be 24 lots for single-family housing, 24 units for military veterans and 204 condo units for “workforce” housing priced at 60% to 120% of area median income.

“It’s really targeting people who do not qualify for other subsidy programs … but still need housing,” Fuselier said. “A lot of people are priced out of the market, and  we’re looking to bring opportunities for homeownership at affordable price.”

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Construction Jobs Are Up In Residential Construction

March 2021 saw the employment total payroll increase by 916,000. The unemployment rate also dropped in March 6%. As the country is slowly reopening from the pandemic, the labor market is improving. In fact, the residential construction employment is beyond the level seen in February 2020. There were 37,000 residential construction jobs added in March 2021.

This is good news for the US job market. During the pandemic, 22.7 million jobs were lost in March, April and December of 2020. For the jobs lost, 14.3 million have been recovered in the last 11 months.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics broke the increase down by industries. The top industry to see employment changes in March 2021 was the leisure and hospitality industry with 280,000 month-over-month change. Government followed with 136,000, construction gained 110,000, professional and business services saw 66,000, while educational services had 64,000, manufacturing 53,000, transportation and warehousing 48,000, other services 42,000, health care and social assistance 36,000, durable goods 30,000, wholesale trade 24,000, nondurable goods 23,000, retail trade 23,000, mining and logging 20,000, financial activities 16,000 and utilities 0.

Out of the 110,000 construction employment, 37,000 were in residential construction alone. In fact, 518,000 residential construction jobs have been created in the past 11 months. Residential employment was reported at 3 million in March 2021. Builders included 873,000 and 2.2 million were in residential specialty trade contractors. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 87,900 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,047,900 positions.

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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, entertainment, 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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