Learn about commercial and residential historic rehabilitation tax credits and learn how to take advantage of the original art sales tax exemption.

September 27, 2011
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Preservation Resource Center, 923 Tchoupitoulas St.

The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy along with the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and the PRC are proud to present the Cultural Products District workshop.

This workshop will help commercial and residentail property owners to:

• Learn about the historical rehabilitation tax credits available to property owners of buildings 50 years old and older in New Orleans’ 20 Cultural Products Districts.
• Learn about historical rehabilitation and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation as required by the tax incentive programs.
• Find local resources for rehabilitation including contractors that specialize in historic renovation.
• Navigate the application process with the Division of Historic Preservation of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

The PRC’s Great Neighborhood Sellabration
Saturday, Sept. 17
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At the PRC
923 Tchoupitoulas St.
(in the Warehouse District)

This annual homebuyer fair promotes homeownership in historic New Orleans neighborhoods by providing prospective homebuyers with the tools they need to find, purchase, and renovate a historic home.

This year’s Great Neighborhood Sellabration will feature exhibitions about historic New Orleans neighborhoods, along with workshops on how to buy, finance, and renovate a historic home. Also featuring hundreds of properties for sale throughout New Orleans!

Realtors, lenders and contractors will be available to answer questions and provide information.

Participating neighborhood associations that will have information on homes available in their neighborhood include: Algiers Riverview Association, Bywater Neighborhood Association, Fontainebleau Improvement Association, Northwest Carrollton Civic Association, O.C. Haley Main Street, Felicity Street Redevelopment Project, Esplanade Ridge and Treme Civic Association, Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association, Historic Faubourg Treme Association, Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association, Gentilly Terrace & Gardens Improvement Association, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Coliseum Square Neighborhood Association, Mid-City Neighborhood Association, Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association, Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association, and Maple Area Residents, Inc.

Each attendee will receive a complimentary resource book on buying and renovating a historic house in New Orleans.

Workshop Schedule:
9:30 a.m. – “Buy Right”: Presented by Jo-Ann Fitzpatrick Broussard, Latter & Blum Realty
11 a.m. – “Finance Right”: Presented by City of New Orleans. Presentation will focus on the new soft second mortgage program. Lagniappe: Using a renovation loan to purchase and renovate your historic home, presented by Joe Uzee, Mortgage Loan Originator at Gulf Coast Bank & Trust.
1:15 p.m. – “Renovate Right”: Presented by Patricia H. Gay, Executive Director of PRC

FREE and open to the public.

Pre-registration is encouraged. Pre-registration will enable you to receive information from the PRC that may help you find, finance, and purchase your historic home. When you arrive at Great Neighborhood Sellabration, please proceed to the pre-registration Will Call to receive your free resource booklet. Pre-registration is available at www.prcno.org

Parking:
Available at 901 Convention Center Blvd. for $8 (mention “Preservation Resource Center” to receive the $8 parking rate).
Parking also available on the street and several area lots.

Nostalgic for the corner store of yore? See the transformation-in-progress of three historic corner buildings within one block in Tremé.

Each of these buildings was once a blighted eyesore; they are now being renovated by different teams of Tremé residents. All three buildings will have commercial spaces available to lease on the first floor while two of the three will also have residences above.

Click here to read the Preservation in Print article about this collaborative effort.

Would you like to know more about how to participate as a buyer in the sheriff sale auction process in New Orleans? The City of New Orleans is pushing an increasing number of properties to auction after foreclosing on liens, much as a bank would foreclose upon a mortgage. These “sheriff sales” present investors and potential homeowners with a great way to obtain historic properties (with clean title) at very low cost and restore them to the beautiful homes they once were.
Representatives from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s office, as well as the City of New Orleans, will be present to walk attendees through the process.

Stop by for a cold drink, and a chance to take part in the revitalization of New Orleans and its historic neighborhoods!

July 26th

6 p.m.,

The Preservation Resource Center – 923 Tchoupitoulas St. in the Warehouse District

On Saturday, April 2, 2011, the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans (PRC) will bring back one of its most time honored traditions, the Shotgun House Tour. Appropriately, it will highlight the beautiful Shotguns in the Garden District and the Irish Channel between Jackson Avenue and Washington Avenue. At this event, locals and visitors take a self-guided tour of eleven private homes in the Garden District and Irish Channel. Each shotgun home has unique architectural features and demonstrates a unique take on New Orleans’ most common house type.

We are searching for volunteers to help staff the tour homes throughout the day as house captains, greeters, and docents. Three shifts are available on Saturday, April 2 – 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 12:00 to 2:30 p.m., or 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. You must be over age 18 to volunteer.

For just a couple hours of service, you will get:

1. One (1) free ticket to the Tour
2. Discounts from area businesses all weekend, including CC’s community Coffeehouse, Hemline, Green Serene, La Divina Gelateria, Perch, Probst Decorating, Up/UniqueProducts, Spruce Edo-Studio, Dunn and Sonnier Antiques and Flowers, and ZukaBaby.
*BONUS: The headquarters for the Shotgun House Tour is Tracey’s Irish Restaurant and Bar, so enjoy one of their awesome roast beef po-boys before or after your shift!

Shotgun House Tour is a tradition for the PRC, which is returning after a five year hiatus. The proceeds from the Shotgun House Tour go toward the PRC and its Education and Outreach programs. PRC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has been preserving, restoring and revitalizing New Orleans’ historic architecture and neighborhoods for 36 years.

Click here to volunteer for the tour, or call Sarina Mohan at (504) 636-3067.

View photos of some of the houses on the tour on out Flickr page.

Click here for more information on the tour, or to purchase tickets.

Click here for more information about shotgun houses.

It is going to be a fabulous tour this year. Hope to see you there!

Dear Homeowners:

On Saturday, April 2, 2011, the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans (PRC) will bring back one of its most time honored traditions, the Shotgun House Tour. Appropriately, it will highlight the beautiful Shotguns in the Garden District and the Irish Channel between Jackson Avenue and Washington Avenue. We are currently searching for owners of Shotguns in this vicinity who would be proud to have their home and interior featured in the Shotgun tour this year.

The PRC celebrates New Orleans’ most beloved housetype during “Shotgun House Month”. This citywide celebration includes tours, special events and workshops designed to acquaint New Orleanians and visitors alike with the unique characteristics of historic neighborhoods and architecture. A highlight of Shotgun House Month is PRC’s Shotgun House Tour, which includes a range of shotgun house types such as singles, doubles, camelbacks and sidehalls. This year’s self-guided tour will be held on Saturday, April 2nd, from 10am-4pm.

The PRC has held 14 Shotgun tours since 1991. Neighborhoods such as the Garden District, Faubourg Marigny, Bywater, Touro-Bouligny, Uptown, Upper Hurstville, Algiers Point and Upper Audubon have hosted the Shotgun House Tour. This is our first Shotgun House Tour since 2005.

If you would like more information, or would consider participating in this year’s Shotgun House Tour, please contact Suzanne Blaum at 504.636.3399 or sblaum@prcno.org. Due to promotional deadlines, please contact us by February 1st if possible. We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Suzanne N. Blaum

For upcoming events related to PRC’s Shotgun House Month 2011 please keep an eye on PRC’s Homepage or our Facebook page!

Click here to view our collection of shotgun house photographs on Flickr!

Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans
Director of Education and Outreach
923 Tchoupitoulas Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
phone: 504-636-3399; fax: 504-636-3074
sblaum@prcno.org
www.prcno.org

The PRC is offering a Historic House Specialist seminar on Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm at the PRC (923 Tchoupitoulas St.) The seminar will provide 4 continuing education credits and costs $75 for members of the PRC / $85 for non-members.

In order to earn the Historic House Specialist designation, Realtors are required to attend the one-day seminar PLUS two of the PRC’s Homebuyer Workshops, which are free and open to the public and offered on the second Tuesday of every month at the PRC from 6:00 – 7:30 pm.

Topics covered at the Historic House Specialist seminar 2010 will include:

-Evolution of Historic Neighborhoods
-Historic New Orleans House Types
-Best Renovation Practices
-Resources and How to Research a Historic House
-Financing a Renovation Using a 203(k) Mortgage
-Renovating 101 and Navigating Permitting Agencies

To register for Historic House Specialist, please call Sarina Mohan, Education and Outreach Coordinator, at 504.636.3067 or email at smohan@prcno.org.

SPACE IS LIMITED, SO REGISTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Mondy Junior High, originally William O. Rogers Elementary, is located at St. Philip and N. Tonti. Paul Andry designed this Romanesque Revival style school which opened to much fanfare in April 1898. Though the smallest of the three, it is in the best condition. Mondy’s size and its relatively cramped location on a square occupied by a dozen or so private homes make it undesirable for reuse as a school but a prime candidate for conversion to residential units.

The former St. Joseph’s Academy is bounded by Ursulines, N. Johnson, St. Philip, and N. Galvez. Established on this site in 1858, its five remaining buildings were constructed between 1887 and 1964. The first four, including the imposing Gothic Revival Academy Building (1904-1906) overlooking Ursulines, were commissioned by the Sisters of St. Joseph, while the last was built by the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) after it purchased the complex in 1960. OPSB then combined the buildings with the former Benjamin Franklin Elementary to form Andrew J. Bell Junior High. The unsecured complex has suffered five years of severe vandalism, graffiti, and theft. While there is little chance that it could be updated to suite the RSD’s current educational specifications, it would be well-suited to a combination of uses to serve the community.

Franklin Elementary, completed in 1913, stands at the corner of N. Johnson and Dumaine. It is a classic E. A. Christy design with Italianate details. This nearly 35,000 square foot building stands on a mostly open city square shared by only a handful of privately-owned properties. Though the site is, again, unsecured, which has resulted in vandalism and theft, the building’s structure is in excellent shape. If renovated, its site could fully accommodate a sizeable modern addition to house the 450-650 students and desired ancillary facilities which RSD desires.

While any new school in Treme would be subject to the district’s current school choice policy – meaning that a sizeable percentage of its students would necessarily come from outside the neighborhood – the presence of these deteriorating buildings has severe implications for nearby residents. From depressed property values, to crime, to the basic psychological effects of multiple monumentally-scaled vacant structures in such close vicinity, these buildings are doing far more harm to the neighborhood than Wheatley alone. The RSD deflects attention from this negligence by citing the burden of maintaining its 400 plus properties citywide; nonetheless, it and the OPSB, which technically owns these properties, are responsible for all of the effects their actions have upon New Orleans’ neighborhoods.

Each school is included in the Esplanade Ridge National Register District except for Wheatley, which has been deemed eligible for individual National Register listing, meaning that all would be eligible for a host of tax incentives if sold to a private entity. The OPSB, which apparently has no need for three out of four of these vacant properties, could renovate and add to Franklin and sell Mondy, St. Joseph’s, and Wheatley to be adaptively reused. Focusing solely on Wheatley, while blaming it for far more complex issues than are its due, merely wastes opportunities for further rebirth in Tremé.

Renovators’ Happy Hour Goes to Lafayette Square
Thursday, August 26, 5:30 p.m., at 634 Julia St.

Operation Comeback Workshops: “Preserving Green”
Friday, August 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 5200 Dauphine St.
Learn about timely preservation and construction issues by attending these workshops presented by the Preserving Green arm of the PRC’s Operation Comeback program.

Rebuilding Together’s Fifty for Five Block Party
Saturday, August 28, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Lafayette Square
Join the PRC and Rebuilding Together to commemorate how far New Orleans has come since Katrina! Featuring vendors, community leaders, and musical greats such as Germaine Bazzle, Tremé Brass Band, and The World Classic Rockers.

Holy Cross Block Party
Saturday, August 28, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., 500 block of Caffin Avenue
Join the PRC and friends as we celebrate the revitalization of the Holy Cross Historic District and the publication of One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds.

First-Time Homebuyer Training – September
Monday, September 20, at the PRC

Click here for the full PRC Event Calendar

Get a glimpse of the ongoing renovations of the last four buildings in the 600 block of Julia Street, also known as “Julia Row” or the “Thirteen Sisters”. These remarkable American Townhouses date back to 1833.

Thursday, August 26, 2010
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
634 Julia Street

For more information, contact Suzanne at 504.636.3399 or sblaum@prcno.org

Friday, August 27, 2010
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
At the future home of the neighborhood center!
5200 Dauphine St. (at the corner of Lizardi St.)
(in Holy Cross)
Click here for directions.

This slate of one-hour educational workshops by distinguished professionals in green reconstruction will highlight the reuse of historic building materials and their integration into the neighborhood center built by Operation Comeback at 5200 Dauphine Street.

For more information, contact Pam Bryan, Director of Operation Comeback, at 504.636.3044 or pbryan@prcno.org.

Rebuilding Together’s Fifty for Five Block Party
Saturday, August 28, 2010
2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

At Lafayette Square
500 Saint Charles Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70130

Join the PRC and Rebuilding Together to commemorate how far New Orleans has come since Katrina! This public block party will come at the end of Rebuilding Together’s massive Fifty for Five rebuild in honor of the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. See below for more information about Rebuilding Together and Fifty for Five.

For more information on Rebuilding Together New Orleans, visit www.prcno.org.

For more information about Fifty for Five, contact Shannon Jones at 504.636.3397 or sjones@prcno.org.

Join the PRC and friends as we celebrate the revitalization of the Holy Cross Historic District and the publication of One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds

Saturday, August 28, 2010
4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

500 block of Caffin Avenue between Chartres and Douglas Streets

Enjoy levee breezes, neighborhood conviviality, food, and music from Little Freddie King and the Rebirth Brass Band in the heart of Holy Cross Historic District, the neighborhood in which Preservation Resource Center has dedicated over $1 million to renovate historic homes flooded by Hurricane Katrina.

For more information, contact Maryann Miller at 504.312.9202 or mmiller@prcno.org.

Friday, June 11
Generations Hall | 310 Andrew Higgins Drive

Patron Party
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Music by Some Like It Hot!

Gala
8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Music by the Batiste Brothers Band with Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony

Cuisine
Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club, The Praline Connection, Olivier’s Creole Restaurant, Dooky Chase Restaurant, Lil’ Dizzy’s Cafe, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Pralines by Jean, and more.

Learn more about the event on our website.