This property would be demolished and replaced by the above plan.
“Op Ed”:http://www.squanderedheritage.com/jack-davis-oped/
Karen Gadbois co-founded The Lens. She now covers New Orleans government issues and writes about land use. With television reporter Lee Zurik she exposed widespread misuse of city recovery funds and led... More by Karen Gadbois
The proposed elevation is pretty ugly. Lacks the strong massing and elegant design of what is there now. Just another faux New Orleans mishmash.
Here we go again. Large homes are not selling and assessments have increased. There is a real fear among Uptown property owners that taxes will soon match those new assessments and that the real estate market is going to take a huge nose dive. Owners see no way out other than to sell to developers. Sadly, we will see more attempts like this.
Actually, while Karen is correct in posting the proposed building, the pending application in a blanket zoning change as opposed to a specific Conditional Use application tied to a specific set of plans. The developer has applied to change the zoning of these two parcels from the most restrictive (RS-1A) to the least restrictive RM-4. The City does not put provisos on such zoning changes so after getting the change approved with the help of the what he considers a nice building to replace it (see drawing above) he could sell out to another developer, who could in turn construct up to 60 units on this property utilizing a Residential Planned Community.
This doesn’t even address the demoltion issues which I will leave to Karen and the other experts.
What are architecture schools for, anyway? The proposal is a complete abortion–Disney Greek Revival, ’80s Post Modern, hints of windowless, anti-human Brutalism on the first floor. But I’m afraid Mary above is right–
what an ugly proposal! the balconies and trim don’t match. it looks like an insane asylum designed by residents from architecture colorforms.
Thank you for bringing this one to our attention Karen. Now we can look forward to the demolition of St. Charles Ave. The streetcar can run through a valley of yuppie tenements. Buildings like this dedicate the ground level to parking. I hate the traffic across the sidewalks.
The proposed condo looks like a bad architect threw up on his drafing table. Just awful.
I know the Architect…he is a bad Architect.
He was once described as being unable “to design his way out of a wet paper bag, with a hole in it.” He has not improved.
Wow, what a hideous design. Is is suppossed to be Greek Revival? The left half side looks like a grain silo.
Looks like a grain silo indeed.
When I saw that dome I thought that must be the Mad Scientist penthouse suite.
It’s too bad… the existing building isn’t particularly good looking either… i don’t get spanish tile in NO. i’m not a fan of front lawns in cities either i guess
That’s got to be the ugliest proposal I’ve ever seen. Maybe it would look fine in Westwego, but certainly NOT on St. Charles Avenue!
Wow! That is hideous. The current building is a perfect example of the Spanish influence in New Orleans & should be left alone. Either refurbish it or don’t purchase the building! This is the type of attitude we are fighting. I don’t understand why non-New Orleanians don’t get it. We are called stubborn, but we have what we have left because we’ve protected our city!