Archive for Blight
Urban Main Streets: Why Are They So Important?
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As the vital arteries of our communities, main streets are where one finds the nexus of social interaction and the exchange of goods and services. Historically, these commercial zones were the model of mixed-use development including retail, office, entertainment, with residential spaces on upper floors. Yet the term “Main Street” also serves as a nostalgic reminder of a fading era where communities were, as their name implies, cohesive entities of local cooperative efforts that could sustain and nourish a collective identity. The evolving landscape of the American city has shifted emphasis and significance away from Main Streets to their communities’ detriment.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, seeing this negative decline of our historical commercial cores and the structures within them, created the National Main Street Center in 1980 to combat their erosion. By combining historical preservation efforts with economic restructuring, the Main Street Approach encourages communities to take a second look at their declining commercial cores and see the opportunities in preservation of no only historical structures, but also the sense of place and community that a strengthened local business climate can provide.
Having overseen much success in smaller community revitalization, a recent focus for the Main Street Center is on the commercial hubs serving specific neighborhoods within a larger metropolitan city. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina revealed the many problems facing revitalization across New Orleans and the Louisiana Main Street program, as part of the Department of Culture, recreation and Tourism targeted specific areas within the larger city as desperately needing a Main Street approach resulting in the state designation of five Urban Main Streets:
- Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard
- North Rampart Street
- Broad Street
- St. Claude Avenue
- Old Algiers
Within each of these targeted streets and the adjacent neighborhoods they serve, the Louisiana Main Street Program has applied the National Fourpoint approach to revitalization. This includes:
- Organization –This involves gathering human capital and financial resources and orienting them towards a common goal. The establishment of a Governing board and standing committees is necessary to oversee a predominantly volunteer and grassroots initiative. A Main Street Manager or Managing Group, the essential catalyst for change, must coordinate all efforts including advocacy for merchants, property owners, and city officials, recruiting volunteer operations, and organizing all events designed to redirect local interest towards downtown importance.
- Design – Economic regeneration must have a welcoming face. The design element is crucial to getting the targeted main street into physical shape. These efforts include all the amenities that draw people to an area from attractive window displays and restoration of historic assets to effective signage, parking, and pedestrian oriented streetscaping. By conveying an inviting visual message to users, communities can effectively sell what they have to offer. Design is not limited to visual application however, for much attention must be paid to ongoing maintenance, so these efforts should be long term in vision including any appropriate new construction.
- Promotion – Marketing is vital! “If you build it, they will come” is not a completely true sentiment. If you promote it, they will come. By advertizing what a restored Main street has to offer through local information channels, special events, and retail promotions, curiosity will be generated. This element is self-sustaining for by bringing in users, you increase confidence in investors, thereby attracting new visitors and investors.
- Economic Restructuring – By strengthening the existing economic assets while attracting appropriate new businesses, the entire district benefits. By targeting underused space for conversion into productive new uses, a district-sustaining infill development program strengthens the entire community. More investment means more profit, for individual business owners and the expanding tax base for the larger community.
Technical assistance with organization, design and implementation is key to the success of any widespread revitalization program. Yet the Main Street designation through the National Trust for Historic Preservation carries additional monetary assistance at the federal and state levels. Facade and structural improvement grants are eligible to these newly sanctioned Urban Main Streets as are grants for streetscaping improvements. Though preservation is long been a largely private business inititive, the Main Streets program can spread public resources a longer way by partnering with community-driven groups and businesses to foster a community wide effort to reclaim our vital commercial cores and have a positive impact on those they serve.
Please visit our blog for upcoming information about the
road to revitalization in our New Orleans Urban Main Streets!
If you have any comments or stories you would like to share with the Preservation Resource Center, please CLICK HERE.
blightStatus Helps Residents Track Blighted Properties
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The status of blighted properties within the code enforcement system can now be tracked through a new interactive online tool. blightStatus is a collaboration with the City of New Orleans and Code for America, a non-profit organization that helps cities make public information more accessible on the internet. You will want to sign up for an account, as noted with the red arrow in the image above.
blightStatus allows residents to:
- view the case history for any property going through the code enforcement process.
- create a “watchlist” to track the process of multiple properties.
- receive email alerts when a property on your “watchlist” moves forward in the blighted process.
- review blight citywide or down to the block level using interactive maps.
- learn more about the blight process through the “help center.”
In theory, you will be able to see ongoing status updates of properties moving through the blight process. blightStatus, which is in beta form, is a good start in giving the public access to information about blighted properties and is relatively intuitive. The city faces the challenge to keep information up-to-date in the “ghost” program that feeds data to blightStatus site, LAnd MAnagement (LAMA), the city property and permitting portal. LAMA was launched in July 2012 and while blightStatus gives partial access to the code enforcement side of the LAMA system, there still is no public interface to the permitting side of the system.
blightStatus has its limitations, though the developers of the site are open to suggestions for improvements. While you can search by address, street name, case status and month, the database is not searchable by neighborhood. If you have suggestions for changes or improvements, be sure to send them to the site administrators HERE.
Visit the blightStatus website HERE.
FOR SALE! Blighted Properties Going to Sheriff’s Sale Aug. 2 – Sept. 13, 2012
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The City of New Orleans has filed a foreclosure action in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court against the properties listed below.
You can access sales by going to the Civil Sheriff’s website HERE.
PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS when you visit the Sheriff’s website:
Click on the “Real Estate Sales” link. Then use the drop down menu to pick a date and look through the list of sales. Any property that says “City of New Orleans v. ______” is a sheriff’s sale. You can cross reference that property with the list below.
Check this page again — we’ll add links to photos of the houses but we didn’t want to hesitate on posting the addresses. Further, not all of the photos have been posted on the Sheriff’s website yet and not all dates have been set. Since many of these houses have previously appeared on a “demolition list,” we have photos on our Flickr site. DO YOUR OWN SITE VISIT to verify the condition of a property as some of our photos may be out of date.
IF YOU BUY A PROPERTY WITH A HOUSE ON THE LOT, the work that you do to the house after purchase might be subject to the jurisdiction of the HDLC. All houses within local historic districts are subject to local review. Renovations on houses within HDLC’s districts are likely subject to design review. If you are considering purchasing a property on this list and are considering demolition as an option, know that demolitions are subject to HDLC or NCDC review for older neighborhoods. Ask if you aren’t sure!
NOTE: We will NOT post updates on the sale status, so please cross-reference this list with the Sheriff’s website HERE to confirm that a particular sale is moving forward. If a property owner pays the liens, then the sale will be stopped.
August 2, 2012
2724 Fourth
2114 Annette
2434 Barracks
13648 N Cavelier
723 Valence
5517 N Rampart
8830 Palm
August 16, 2012
2431 Milan
6313 Marigny
August 23, 2012
13648 N Cavelier
121 S Cortez
1728 Feliciana
August 30, 2012
432 S Scott
September 6, 2012
2000 Franklin
September 13, 2012
(Click HERE)
BlightStat Meeting Scheduled for October 6, 2011, 8 AM
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BLIGHTSTAT MEETING (every 2 weeks)
WHO: Key blight policy and code enforcement staff
WHEN: Thursday, October 6, 2011 8:00-9:30 AM CST
WHERE: 8th Floor Homeland Security Conference room in City Hall
The next BlightStat meeting will be held on Oct. 19, 2011 at 8 AM.
View PowerPoint presentations from previous BlightStat meetings HERE.
Landmarks, PRC and Partners Present Panel Forum to Address Alternatives to Fight Blight
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The Louisiana Landmarks Society (Landmarks) will present in partnership with the Foundation for Historical Louisiana, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Resource Center a public forum on alternatives to demolition for blighted historic properties in the twelve local historic districts and the twenty-nine National Historic Districts in New Orleans. “Fighting Blight Right: A Panel Forum on Alternatives to Demolition” will feature a panel of experts on a variety of techniques to preserve the historic, cultural fabric of the city’s built environment.
The forum will be moderated by New Orleans cultural geographer and author Richard Campanella. The panel experts include: Dunbar Argote, MAI appraiser with 35 years experience in the New Orleans real estate industry; Jonn Hankins, Director of the New Orleans African American Museum; Neal Morris of Redmellon Restoration and Development; Alison Saunders, tax incentives director for the State Division of Historic Preservation; attorney and neighborhood preservation leader Camille Strachan; District “C” City Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer; and Michelle Kimball, Preservation Resource Center’s Senior Advocate. With a goal of moving the city forward and beyond demolition as a singular option, alternative strategies to be discussed include adaptive reuse, deconstruction and salvage, as well as mothballing, to name a few on a wide spectrum of viable solutions to blight.
What: A moderated panel forum on viable alternatives to demolition to address New Orleans’ blight problem. The forum seeks to engage an audience of city, state, and federal policymakers, media, neighborhood organizations, housing non-profits, and members of the public.
Title: Fighting Blight Right: A Panel Forum on Alternatives to Demolition
Where: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Parish Hall, 8000 block of Plum Street, New Orleans
When: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 6:30 PM
Who: Louisiana Landmarks Society, Foundation for Historical Louisiana, Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Resource Center
Cost: FREE and open to the public
This project has been funded in part by a grant from the Byrd Family Foundation/Winifred Evans Byrd Intervention Fund for Louisiana of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Located in Algiers Point Local Historic District near the Henry “Red” Allen house, 440 Newton / 923 Nunez St was last used as “Rita’s Bar: Home of the Mohawk Hunters” many years ago. It is zoned B2 (neighborhood commercial). It is a GOLD rated building per the Historic District Landmark’s Commission rating structure and exterior renovations are subject to HDLC’s review process.
The property is located 2 blocks from Mardi Gras World. The naval base is nearby. Common Ground is building across the street.
This project is NOT a project for the novice but it certainly would be an asset to the neighborhood if renovated. You’d be our hero — especially since we renovated 414 Newton Street, the former home of Jazz Legend Henry “Red” Allen!
*NOTE: This property is NOT owned by PRC and we can not testify to the specific condition of the structure, thought we should note that the HDLC’s inspector has noted at HDLC hearings that the building is in VERY poor condition. Please contact the property owner via Craig’s List with your questions and be sure to hire a professional inspector or structural engineer supply a structural report for this building.*
To learn more about the HDLC’s jurisdiction and guidelines, visit the HDLC’s website HERE.
Fighting Blight! “Sheriff Sale” Properties In District B
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The City of New Orleans has filed a foreclosure action in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court against the properties on the map above. Please keep an eye on the Civil Sheriff’s website for the dates of the sales. The ones identified by BLUE went to Sheriff Sale already and will be up again soon with a VERY LOW minimum. Sheriff sales provide LIKELY insurable title and usually a GREAT DEAL on property in New Orleans.
Learn more about the Sheriff Sales and view the full list of properties up for sheriff sale HERE.
FOR SALE! Blighted Properties Going to Sheriff’s Sale
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The City of New Orleans has filed a foreclosure action in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court against the properties listed below. This list was generated by the City and is posted on the Code Enforcement website under the “Code Lien Foreclosure (Sheriff’s Sales)” section of the site HERE.
You can access sales by going to the Civil Sheriff’s website HERE.
PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS when you visit the Sheriff’s website:
Click on the “Real Estate Sales” link. Then use the drop down menu to pick a date and look through the list of sales. Any property that says “City of New Orleans v. ______” is a sheriff’s sale. You can cross reference that property with the list below.
Check this page again — we’ll add links to photos of the houses but we didn’t want to hesitate on posting the addresses. Further, not all of the photos have been posted on the Sheriff’s website yet and not all dates have been set. Since many of these houses have previously appeared on a “demolition list,” we have photos on our Flickr site. DO A SITE VISIT to verify the condition of a property as some of our photos may be out of date.
IF YOU BUY A PROPERTY WITH A HOUSE ON THE LOT, the work that you do to the house after purchase might be subject to the jurisdiction of the HDLC. All houses within local historic districts are subject to local review. Renovations on houses within HDLC’s districts are likely subject to design review. If you are considering purchasing a property on this list and are considering demolition as an option, know that demolitions are subject to HDLC or NCDC review for older neighborhoods. Ask if you aren’t sure!
NOTE: We will NOT post updates on the sale status, so please cross-reference this list with the Sheriff’s website HERE to confirm that a particular sale is moving forward. If a property owner pays the liens, then the sale will be stopped.
Address & Case Number (We’ve added a few of the sale dates and notes below.)
Click here to view current and future sale lists
2130 2nd St – 2010-09187
2820 2nd St - 2010-09184
3213-15 2nd St - 2011-1864
2628 3rd Street - 2010-09260
2815 3rd Street - 2010-09188 STOPPED 6/14/2011
839-41 6th Street 2011-00646 STOPPED 6/14/2011
1035 8th Street 2011-00444
417-19 40TH STREET 2010-11497
2713 ABUNDANCE 2010-10813 – 7/7/2011
504-06 S Alexander Street – 2011-1914 (Demolished?)
2121 ANDRY - 2010-10811 (Approved for demo by NCDC) STOPPED 6/14/2011
1618 Annette Street – 2011-00691
3228 Annunciation Street 2010-13134
5211 Annunciation Street 2010-13130
3501 Audubon Court 2011-1868
2732-34 Banks Street - 2011-1909 (Approved for demo by NCDC)
3716-16 ½ Banks Street – 2011-1922
3726 Baudin Street – 2011-1921 (Approved for demo by NCDC) STOPPED 6/14/2011
7371 Beau Street 2010-13042 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2431-33-35-37-39 Bienville 2010-12114
2423-25 Bienville Street 2011-1245
4920 BRIGHT 2010-10812 7/7/2011
4520 CANAL ST 2010-05881
1016 Charbonnet 2010-11839 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2633 Chartres St. 2010-11478
4316 Clio Street 2011-1888
2309 Conti St. - 2011-1917 – 7/14/2011 SOLD for $13,333
2928 Conti Street 2011-1879
4914 CROWDER 2010-10815 7/7/2011, STOPPED 6/14/2011
4912 CROWDER BLVD 2010-10810
2600 Danneel St. – 2011-1907 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2633 Danneel St. 2011-1918
5717 DAUPHINE ST 2010-11477 STOPPED 6/14/2011
5120 Dauphine Street - 2010-12182 STOPPED 6/14/2011
3338 De Saix Blvd - 2010-13137 6/14/2011
3509 Delachaise Street - 2010-13128 6/14/2011
3232-34 Delachaise Street 2011-1902
2833 S Derbigny St. 2011-1905
5425 Derbigny St. 2010-11502
1024-26 DESLONDE ST 2010-11458
1624 Deslonde Street – 2010-13135 6/14/2011
422 Diana Street 2011-1238
11028 DREUX AVENUE 2010-10348
5328 Dryades Street 2011-00443 STOPPED 6/14/2011
229-31 S Dupre 2010-12117 7/7/2011
1701 EGANIA 2010-11472 – STOPPED 7/7/2011
3338 Elysian Fields Ave 2010-12118 7/7/2011 SOLD for $22,100
4520 Eve Street 2011-1890
3205-07 Fern Street 2011-1919 STOPPED 6/14/2011
930 FORSTALL STREET 2010-10349 6/14/2011
2724 Fourth Street 2010-09185
3939 Fourth Street 2011-1889
2227-29 Franklin Avenue 2011-1242 7/7/2011
4734 Franklin Avenue - 2010-12460 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2314-16 Frenchman 2011-00645 6/14/2011
1225 GALLIER RD 2010-10346 6/14/2011
3711 S Galvez Street 2011-1857
2418 Gen. Taylor St. - 2011-1243
2131 General Pershing Street 2011-1911 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2439 General Taylor Street 2010-12890 6/14/2011
3225 General Taylor Street – 2011-1881
3925 General Taylor Street 2011-1896
3721-23 General Taylor Street - 2011-1915 – 7/14/2011, STOPPED 6/14/2011
303 Hay Place – 2010-13132 6/14/2011
25 Honeysuckle Lane – 2010-12892 3/10/2011, 6/14/2011
4321-23 Iberville Street 2011-1870
2304-06 Jackson Avenue - 2011-1241 STOPPED 6/14/11
839 Jackson Avenue - 2011-2892 – 7/7/2011
2615 Jefferson Ave. 2011-1912 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2218 JOLIET ST 2010-11466
2613-15 Joliet Street 2010-13129
3627 S Liberty Street 2011-1906
214-16 S Lopez 2010-12184
1732-34 LOUISA 2010-10809 STOPPED 6/14/2011
1740 Louisa Street – 2010-13138 6/14/2011
3514 Louisiana Avenue 2011-1895
3946 Louisiana Avenue – 2011-1886
3410 Lowerline Street 2011-1908 STOPPED 6/14/2011
1336 Magazine Street 2010-13131
4624 Magnolia Street 2011-1904
1229 Mandeville Street – 2011-1877
2501 Martin Luther King blvd
2601 Melpomene 2011-1898
2431-33 Milan Street 2010-12183 7/7/2011
6633 MILNE STREET 2010-11470 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2536 S Miro Street 2011-1903 STOPPED 6/14/2011
3516 S Miro Street 2011-1891 STOPPED 6/14/2011
3519 S Miro Street 2011-1897
1224-26 N Miro Street 2010-13139
4101-03 S Miro Street 2011-1883
4236 S Miro Street 2011-2318 – STOPPED 7/7/2011
3327 Mistletoe Street 2011-1866
5530 Montegut Dr. 2010-11461
1501-03 Oretha Castle Haley Drive 2011-1926
2736-38 Orleans Ave 2011-00647
5934 Painters Street 2010-12115
716 Peniston St. - 2009-6419
2421 Peniston Street – 2011-1244
400 S Piece 2011-1876
1540 Piety St. 2011-1239
10341 PLAINFIELD DRIVE 2010-10350 7/7/2011 SOLD for $23,333
5557 Press Dr. 2010-11460
1638 N Prieur – 2010-12344 – 7/14/2011, STOPPED 6/14/2011
5517 N RAMPART ST 2010-11479
2408-10 Rex Place 2011-1246
2700 Robert Street 2011-1855
219 N Roman 2011-1899
316 S Salcedo Street 2011-1865
1613-15 S Saratoga St. 2011-1236 STOPPED 6/14/2011
1617 S Saratoga St. 2010-09257
1621 S Saratoga Street 2011-1240
3613 Saratoga Street 2011-1892
1413-15 SARATOGA STREET - 2010-05880 STOPPED 6/14/2011
4941 Sherwood Dr. 2010-11463 6/14/2011
1506 SHIRLEY DRIIVE – 2010-06063
5152 Spain St. 2010-11474 6/14/2011
2222 ST. CLAUDE 2010-07707 STOPPED 6/14/2011
5301-03 ST. CLAUDE 2010-10347 STOPPED 6/14/2011
5301 St. Claude Avenue 2010-10347 3/17/2011
1604-06 St. Philip St 2010-13133
3987 Tchoupitoulas Street 2011-1894
2215 Terpsichore 2011-1901
3915-17 Thalia Street – 2011-1872
3940 Third Street 2011-1869
3218 Toledano Street 2011-1900
2544 Tulane Ave. 2011-1863
2640-42 Upperline 2011-00644
1428 Ursuline Avenue 2010-13136
1511 Ursulines Ave 2010-12202 6/14/2011
3334 Washington Avenue 2011-1873
1513 S White Street 2011-1910
1521-23 S White Street 2010-12181 STOPPED 6/14/2011
223-25 S White Street 2011-1875
227-29 S White Street 2011-1235
4121 Willow St. 2011-1867
2213-15 Willow St. 2011-1861
2225-27 Willow St. – 2011-1880 STOPPED 6/14/2011
2612-14 Willow St. 2011-1916
FOR SALE! District “B” Blighted Homes to Be Sold at Sheriff Sale
Posted by: | CommentsView the full list of “Sheriff Sale” properties HERE.
PRESS RELEASE FROM CM. STACY HEAD
