New $30M Youth Sports Complex To Be Built In Westwego

 A new 94-acre sports complex is planned to be built in West Jefferson. The project is planned to be completed in 2022 and is located on land purchased next to TPC Louisiana on Nicolle Blvd.

This $30 million youth sports complex will include batting cages, a playground, a shaded pavilion, two

baseball fields and five multi-purpose fields for baseball, softball, flag football and soccer in its first two phases. Future plans will add more fields and amenities. The complex will be used for state and regional tournaments as well as a local youth sports community.

This project has great proximity to the east bank by the Huey P. Long bridge. The project is located in the Fairfield area where the TPC Louisiana golf course, NOLA Motorsports Park, the Churchill Technology and Business Park and Delgado Community College's River City Campus are already located.

The complex will be modeled after the Sports Force Parks in Vicksburg, Mississippi and will be named after the former state Senator John Alario. The project will be designed by Duplantis Design Group, managed by Legends and Circular Consulting and a construction firm will be hired this year. The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (LSED) purchased the 148 acres and plans to get underway in the third quarter of 2021.

"This is meant to be an economic driver for the region," Jefferson Parish Recreation Director Mario Bazile said. "It’s a real push to be a regional player in travel sports.”

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Mortgage Refinance Demand Up 20% in 2021

 

The beginning of 2021 has been an uptick in mortgage rates. This upward climb has many rushing to take advantage of the record low rates. According to Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted rate index, mortgage applications to refinance on a home loan have risen 20% last the first full week in January compared to the week before.

“Booming refinance activity in the first full week of 2021 caused mortgage applications to surge to their highest level since March 2020, despite most mortgage rates in the survey rising last week,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “The expectation of additional fiscal stimulus from the incoming administration, and the rollout of vaccines improving the outlook, drove Treasury yields and rates higher.”

According to the report, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) increased to 2.88% from 2.86% last week for loans with a 20% down payment. This makes the current rate 99 basis points higher than a year ago.

“For now, an air of mortgage rate invincibility and persistent setting of new record lows has been replaced by a healthy respect for what may be the first stage of a rising rate environment, the first time we’ve seen such a thing since 2018,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.

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What You Shouldn’t Do After Applying for a Mortgage

Applying For a mortgage is a big part of purchasing a new home. This can be an exciting yet daunting task.  Here are a few things you shouldn't do once you have applied for a mortgage.

Speak to your banker or lender before depositing cash into your bank account.  You do not want to deposit a big chunk of cash into your account all of the sudden. During the mortgage process, lenders need to be able to track where your money is coming from and cash is not easy to track. You can deposit cash during your mortgage process but you will need to discuss how to document your transactions with your lender.

Put big purchases on hold until after the application process. Purchasing new furniture or a new car is a big obligation and will bring monthly payments. Lenders take in all monthly expenses when qualifying you for a loan. If new obligations are created then you will need to be reviewed again. A higher debt-to-income ratio will have to be adjusted. Lenders will tell you that higher ratios equal riskier loans.

Hold off on any co-signing for anyone on their loan. Co-signing is just like obligating yourself to someone else's loan. These obligations will also make you have a higher ratio. Although you are just co-signing, a lender looks at this as another expense you are responsible for.

Do not change bank accounts. One of the steps on a mortgage application is to list your bank accounts. Lenders need to be able to see where your money comes from and where it goes. If you were to change bank accounts during the process, this can hinder a lender from sourcing and tracking your assets. If you have no other option but to change bank accounts, speak to your lender.

Now is not the time to apply for a new credit card. Whenever a financial organization runs your credit report, your FICO® sore is affected. The higher your credit score the better interest rate a lender can offer you. Lower credit scores will not only determine your interest rate but can also hinder you from being approved for a mortgage.

Keep your current accounts open. There is a misconception that less is best when it comes to open credit accounts. This is not true, in fact, it helps to have a long list and depth of credit history. Closing a credit account can actually create a negative impact on your score.

Remember to keep an open line of communication with your lender throughout your mortgage application process. If you have a change in income, job or have to move things around you should share all those things with your lender. The best plan is to fully disclose and discuss your intentions with your loan officer before you do anything financial in nature.

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Three Things Home Owners Desire for Quality of Life at Home

 

The pandemic has shifted the things we want in a home. Homebuyers are looking for comfort, wellness and efficiency. According to the 2020 Green Smart Market Brief, high-performance homes are on the rise.

A good resource for consumer's high-performance must-haves when it comes to building or remodeling a home can be found in National Green Building Standard® (NGBS)'s Bronze Cookbooks. The NGBS Bronze cookbooks give a roadmap to what is used and incorporated into a NGBS Green Certified home.

Below are the top 3 home qualities customers are looking for in today's housing market.

Customer Want: Comfort	High-Performance Strategies
No drafts	Continuous building envelope (confirm with a blower door test) Weatherstripping around windows and doors
Consistent indoor temperatures	Smart thermostat Weatherstripping around windows and doors Continuous building envelope (confirm with a blower door test) High R-value insulation in floors, walls and ceilings
Quiet	ENERGY STAR appliances Added drywall Acoustic panels and sealants Solid core doors

 

Customer Want: Wellness	High-Performance Strategies
Healthy indoor environment	Balanced ventilation Fresh air intakes Kitchen range hood that vents directly outdoors Bathroom exhaust fans HVAC filtration — high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) or high MERV rating Low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials
No odors	Kitchen range hood that vents outdoors Balanced ventilation Low VOC materials
No mold	Bathroom exhaust fans that vent outdoors HVAC systems with sensors and automation Moisture-resistant barrier in building envelope Leak detection system
Natural light	Double- or triple-pane window with lower solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and U-factors

 

Customer Want: Efficiency	High-Performance Strategies
Lower energy bills	Smart thermostat High R-value insulation in floors, walls and ceilings Continuous building envelope (confirm with a blower door test) ENERGY STAR appliances
Lower water bills	WaterSense-labeled fixtures Minimize pipe runs (distance from water heater to fixtures) Leak detection system Landscaping with drought-tolerant plants Smart irrigation systems

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West Bank to New Orleans Transportation Soon to Get Easier

A bill signed by Governor Jindal gives the green light to two projects which could transform transportation from the West Bank to New Orleans into a simple, easy ride for those residents commuting from places such as Gretna, Marrero, and Harvey to the Central Business District (CBD) to work everyday.  Currently, the ferry boats that dock at Canal Street and Algiers Point and Chalmette and Lower Algiers are so old that they are constantly breaking down and have the potential for permanently being put out of service because of their ages. One of these ferry boats was built in 1937.  The first project approved by the governor was to design and build these boats.  Construction will take approximately 12 months for the first boat and  6 months for the next boat

built after that.

“It gives us the opportunity to use all the procurement options now available to speed up the process to get those ferries built,” Transdev Vice President Justin Augustine said Tuesday. “We talked to boat builders…the feedback was clearly they could get the first built in 12 months and a second one within six months after that.”

Another transportation project that will alleviate stressful travel for those residents that live in Belle Chasse was the fastrack approval of a design / build process for a new bridge that will replace the Belle Chasse Tunnel underneath the Intercoastal Waterway.  Because state law prohibits a design and build process at the same time, in the hands of one contractor, special approval had to be given by the legislature for this caveat.  Similar measures were proposed and passed after Hurricane Katrina to move needed construction projects through to the approval stage at a faster pace.  Overall, through the construction of these two necessary modes of transportation, homeowners on the West Bank will soon have new ways of traveling the short commute to New Orleans while still enjoying the “away-from-the-city” life of living in Jefferson Parish.

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One of the Nation’s Best Colleges Located in New Orleans

According to The Princeton Review, one of the nation’s best colleges is located right here in New Orleans.  Loyola University is recognized as one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education and has ranked as one of the most culturally inclusive universities in the country according to The Princeton Review’s “The Best 380 Colleges: 2016 Edition.” The Princeton Review, an education services company, had extensive surveys and interviews with
college students focusing on their opinions of their school and the experiences they have there.  A small number of more than the nation’s 2,500 4-year universities and colleges made the list, Loyola University being one of them. The goal of “The Best 380 Colleges: 2016 Edition” is to offer assistance to applicants when choosing the best college to fit their goals and aspirations.  The “Top 20″ national ranking lists provided by the survey makes it easier for students to compare what’s out there.

Loyola is recognized six times in the “Top 20” list for the following categories:

#2 Lots of Race/Class Interaction
#2 Town-Gown Relations are Great
#4 Best College Newspaper
#13 Best College Library
#14 Best Quality of Life
#18 Easiest Campus to Get Around

Loyola President Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Ph.D. said, “We are very proud that Loyola University New Orleans has been recognized by the Princeton Review in areas that reflect our rich and diverse culture, hands-on learning experiences and community engagement.”

Loyola is highlighted in the edition as “a warm private school in the heart of a big, vibrant city” where all students can find their best attributes in the University’s versatile academic program.  Loyola President Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Ph.D. states, “At Loyola, we challenge our students to ask questions and seek solutions in all areas of life, so that they can become critical thinkers and prepare to change the world.”  “The Maroon”, Loyola’s newspaper, was recognized among the top five college newspapers for the second year in a row by “The Princeton Review”.

Relocation to the New Orleans area is on the rise making it a great place to live. If you live in Plaquemines Parish you have a great advantage in the fact that you not only live in a top school district but are located near one of the top universities in the nation – Loyola University. Plaquemines Parish Schools are recognized for the 2014 highest passage rate in the metro New Orleans area on the state standardized testing grades 3 – 8.  The 4th grade LEAP scores tied in 2014 for the highest in Louisiana with a 96 percent passage rate, and 8th grade LEAP scores were second in the state. Students that graduate from Plaquemines Parish schools will have tremendous opportunities right here in their hometown of New Orleans.

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Household Growth in New Orleans Increases over the Past 5 Years

Not only have the New Orleans house prices increased 46% since Hurricane Katrina hit 10 years ago, but the city has also seen a 90% recovery rate. Many believed that the tens of thousands who fled the area after Hurricane Katrina would not return, and this was simply not the case. A report which came out on July 13, 2015, from Data Center shows that between 2010 and 2014, the growth in New Orleans was 12%, making the city 28th in population growth among 714 cities with more than 50,000 people nationwide. The study also indicated there was an additional 1% growth between 2014 and

2015.

In the New Orleans area, households that received mail increased by 19,651 since June 2010, with 65 out of 72 neighborhoods seeing some sort of increase. In general, 40 of the 72 neighborhoods have already recovered 90% of the population pre-Katrina and 16 neighborhoods have actually exceeded their pre-Katrina population.

The neighborhoods which saw the fastest recovery rate of at least 30% were ironically the most heavily flooded areas. These include households in Filmore, Holy Cross, Lakeview, Lower 9th Ward, Pines Village, Pontchartrain Park and West Lake Forest. Between 2010 and 2014, the areas known as the “sliver by the river”, added 1,355 households in the Central Business District (CBD), 545 households in Treme/Lafitte, 321 households in the Lower Garden District and 297 households in Bywater. Eight neighborhoods have increased by at least 100 households which include the Central Business District (CBD), Central City, St. Roch, Little Woods, Lower 9th Ward, B.W. Cooper, 7th Ward and Treme/Lafitte.

Only four of these neighborhoods have less than 50% pre-Katrina households. These include B.W. Cooper, Florida, Iberville and Lower 9th Ward. Not to worry, B.W. Cooper, Florida and Iberville are housing developments that have mostly been demolished or are being redeveloped so they cannot be considered households until completed. The Lower 9th Ward was the worst damaged from the storm and is making a slower recovery than most. Only seven neighborhoods lost households between 2010 and 2015. Many are relocating to the city of New Orleans “proper” and its surrounding or suburb neighborhoods, placing a great demand on new housing developments. In general, New Orleans is making a great recovery and is holding steady with its population numbers.

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