*UPDATE*
September 11
426-28 S. Solomon – Jesuit wants to put a parking lot there. Their request was denied since this is a residential block.

Before I talk about this house I would like to share some “research”:http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3D6153FF93AA2575AC0A965958260 on “vacant”:http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/146/researchupdate.html lots.

There is always the assumption that a School is a “Good”:http://www.latc.com/1997/08/18/schools/schools3.html Neighbor. A “clean”:http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/education/120115 industry albeit a minor “nuisance”:http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060824/NEWS/608240491/1001.

There have been many a squabble here in the City based upon a Schools decision to build out into a residential area. Most notably the Stuart Hall expansion. While “Stuart Hall”:http://www.savethesehouses.org/houses/ seems to be in no danger of closing if it were to close, the Neighborhood would face a large scale blight situation.

In my Neighborhood we have seen the closing Post Katrina of both a School and a Church. The building is now a target for vandals and fire. A constant source of worry.

We must remember that Schools are a business, and like a business they are subject to the whims of the economy and decisions made far from our view. As an example Holy Cross in the “Holy Cross”:http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-16/115380793038320.xml&coll=1&thispage=1 Neighborhood is leaving the Neighborhood and moving out of the Parish.

Friday I recieved the list from the HCDRC [Housing Conservation District Review Committee] of prior decision and upcoming reviews.

I decided to first take on the Mid City properties, the 2 that stood out in my mind were properties that are on the Jesuit Campus.

“426 S.Solomon”:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=426+S+Solomon+St,+New+Orleans,+LA+70119&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=29.973747,-90.091753&spn=0.016617,0.038881&om=1&iwloc=A
and
“4148 Banks Street”:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=4148+Banks,+New+Orleans&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=29.973524,-90.091023&spn=0.016618,0.038881&om=1&iwloc=A

I wrote a brief post about the Banks Street property below.

To get a sense of the location of these properties I would advise you to pass by, if you are unable to they are located at the opposing ends of a Residential Block adjacent to the School. There are some beautiful homes in this Neighborhood, they are in a great location one block from Carrollton and minutes away from I-10 or Jefferson Parish and Downtown.

I looked at the Assesors Map and from the information that is posted there Jesuit owns the entire 300 Block of S. Solomon, a fact that is obvious as the S. Solomon block serves to unite the Main Campus with an athletic Field.

The Banks Street Property is owned by Jesuit as well and it appears that they own much of the 4000 Block of Banks. These properties have been in the hands of Jesuit for quite some time. “Jesuit”:http://www.jesuitnola.org/about/about–10101.htm has educated “movers and shakers”:http://bizneworleans.com/70+M59522be890a.html.

All of this is a very very long winded way of saying that Jesuit High School is in control of a significant amount of Property there. Like Stuart Hall they are in the middle of a Residential Neighborhood. I am sure that the addition of 2 new vacant lots will do little to appreciate the value of other Homes in the area. In fact Vacant lots are a determing factor in the viability of a “Neighborhood”:http://members.aol.com/comfyrock/page8.htm.

I plan on doing more research and encourage other opinions. Especially those that live in the area.