Blighted firehouse on Louisiana is up for redevelopment
By Jesse Baum, Uptown Messenger | March 10, 2022

New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, Former firehouse at 2314 Louisiana Ave.

The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority is taking steps to renovate the dilapidated firehouse at 2314 Louisiana Ave. The agency is seeking community input on how to redevelop the 7,000-square-foot city-owned building.

On Wednesday evening (March 10), NORA hosted a community meeting via Zoom. The historic firehouse is blighted, and NORA’s goal put it back into commerce.

Seth Knudsen, NORA’s real estate development director, said the vacant firehouse is zoned as a historic urban mixed-use district, or HU-MU, which permits residential use as well as a variety of commercial uses from child care to medical and dental clinics to grocery stores and more. 

“When we consider the range of things that’s permitted, this is among the most diverse zoning districts in the city and really contemplates a pretty wide range of possible future uses for the structure,” Knudsen said.

NORA manages thousands of properties that are deemed blighted, including those acquired from the Road Home program following Hurricane Katrina. Created by the state in 1968, NORA is a public agency charged with revitalization of the city’s underinvested areas.

In the case of the firehouse, NORA is the lessee of the property for a period of 99 years, and facilitates the redevelopment process, including overseeing construction bids.

After NORA’s brief presentation on the project, the (virtual) floor was opened for ideas of how the property could be used to best serve the community.

One attendee, Jason Riggs, suggested the property could be a community center with after-school programs, while Donna Robertson of the Delachaise Neighborhood Association said that she would pose the question to the group and get back to NORA officials with their responses.

Attendee Ron Collins suggested that the building could be a technical training center, elaborating that the training could be “in something maybe that doesn’t need a degree. …[People could] get hands-on training and be able to use those skills to go directly into the workforce.”

When Uptown Messenger asked if the work on the property would preserve and restore the facade of the old firehouse, Knudsen replied that this was very likely, though not assured. 

“I think it’s a pretty strong assumption, going into it, for us. I don’t know that we will exclude … proposals on the front end that might envision some changes to the exterior,” said Knudsen, who also noted that the eventual developers could use historic building tax credits or historic preservation grants. 

Orleans Parish Assessor's Office, The Old Firehouse, 718 Mandeville St.

Orleans Parish Assessor's Office, 1421 St. Roch

An old Fire Department station in the Marigny’s Mandeville Street and another in the St. Claude area on St. Roch Avenue have been renovated with their original exteriors restored. The Marigny firehouse is used as a co-working space, and the St. Roch firehouse is a private residence. An Uptown fire station on Toledano Street, not far from the Louisiana Avenue site, serves as a dance studio and event venue. All of these buildings are now privately owned. 

Orleans Parish Assessor's Office, NOLA Spaces, 1719 Toledano St.

Uptown Messenger also asked Knudsen if the site was guaranteed to have some of the space used as housing when the renovations were completed.

NORA’s agreement with the city is that the property be used in a way to promote affordable housing and economic development.

“So I think the proposals could skew very heavily one way or the other,” Knudsen said. “It could be all housing or mostly housing, or it could be all economic development or mostly economic or some combination of the two.”

The property is well situated to have commercial use on the bottom floor and housing on the top, he noted, similar to how many historic storefronts in New Orleans were originally used when they were built.  

The next step for the project is soliciting developers. According to NORA’s timeline, construction is set to begin next year and will be completed in 2024.

To contact NORA with questions or to provide input for the project, click here.

New Orleans Redevelopment Authority Announces New Initiatives for 2022

Biz New Orleans

02/17/2022 Site Staff

NEW ORLEANS – On Wednesday, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) announced the creation of the Small Business Assistance Grant Program and the Affordable Rental Gap Financing Program. Both initiatives are designed to assist New Orleans businesses and help develop affordable housing through the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery following Hurricane Ida.

Qualified businesses and rental property developers can begin applying for possible funding beginning Feb. 21 through the NORA website. The Small Business Assistance Grant deadline is set for March 25, while the Affordable Rental Gap Financing Program will continue on a rolling basis until the funds are exhausted. Each program has $1.5 million available.

“We understand how challenging the last two years have been for small businesses and the development of affordable rental housing in New Orleans. At NORA, we have been discussing how we can continue supporting low- to moderate-income area businesses and families, and we hope the creation of these two programs will do just that,” said NORA Executive Director Brenda M. Breaux. 

The Small Business Assistance Grant Program was created to support and better leverage revitalization efforts taking place along 29 designated low- to moderate-income area commercial corridor segments, including those corridors identified in NORA’s current Commercial Corridor Gap Financing and Façade RENEW Programs.

For businesses established between Jan. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2021 that occupy commercial storefronts on target commercial corridors, the program is intended to prevent commercial vacancy and serve as an additional financial resource to cover certain overhead and marketing expenses up to $25,000 over a six-month period. 

The Affordable Rental Gap Financing Program endeavors to provide subordinate financing for the development of new multifamily rental housing projects benefiting families at or below 80% of the area median income. The proposed projects for funding may be located anywhere in Orleans Parish if they are using current or formerly NORA-owned properties, but are restricted to NORA’s previously established commercial corridors if using non-NORA owned properties.

For more information on NORA, visit noraworks.org. 

The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) will be hosting virtual community meetings for interested neighborhood residents and business owners concerning the redevelopment of the Louisiana Avenue Firehouse at 2314 Louisiana Avenue and the vacant parcel at 2600 South Broad Street.  NORA is working with the City of New Orleans to redevelop these sites to provide affordable housing and economic development opportunities.  At each meeting, NORA will provide an overview of the property as well as the development process and timeline.  NORA will also gather community feedback and ideas to include in the development solicitation expected to be released later this spring. 

Please see the information for the two meetings below:

2600 S. Broad Redevelopment Community Meeting

When: Mar 7, 2022 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsdeyvqj0jGNOatZ2e6YC9ror1q6JsBaW2

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Louisiana Avenue Firehouse Redevelopment Community Meeting

When: Mar 9, 2022 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtd-qhqD0rHdWG__LFJuMzQWtsfLqmvp1D

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.