Eastern Revival - Mixed-use Renaissance Town Center to replace Plaza Mall
by Fritz Esker
Monday, July 23, 2007
New Orleans City Business
Progress in eastern New Orleans indicates a brighter future for the devastated neighborhood.
In courting business operators to return, New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis said the number of people who have returned to eastern New Orleans is impressive.
“When they’ve gotten off the interstate and driven through the neighborhoods, they’ve been amazed,” Willard-Lewis said.
About 50,000 people are back in the neighborhood, Willard-Lewis said.
“Our repopulation numbers are greater than the predicted numbers,” said Willard-Lewis. “The initial discussion was that everything east of the Industrial Canal would not be repopulated at all.”
Repopulation is vital to attracting businesses, which helps residents move back.
“It’s kind of a Catch-22,” said Gowri Kailas, owner of the property where Lake Forest Plaza Mall once stood. “People come back, you have stores, but you have to have stores for the people to come back.”
A McDonald’s is open at Read Boulevard and Interstate 10. Willard-Lewis said another McDonald’s will open soon on Bullard Avenue and a Winn-Dixie at the corner of Read Boulevard and Chef Menteur Highway will open in September, while an International House of Pancakes has opened on the I-10 service road.
Willard-Lewis said she has had “encouraging” talks with Wal-Mart about opening in eastern New Orleans and more than 100 small businesses have already opened.
The centerpiece for shopping in eastern New Orleans before Katrina and a major player in its redevelopment is the Plaza Mall. Built in 1973, the 1.2-million-square-foot mall was once the premier shopping destination in the entire city. It accounted for about 25 percent of city sales tax revenue during its peak in the 1970s, Willard-Lewis said. By the time Katrina hit, only Dillard’s remained as a store anchor.
Plans are to turn the land into the Renaissance Town Center, an open-air shopping area that will feature a Lowe’s Home Center, a 200,000-square-foot anchor, two 100,000-square-foot anchors, 650,000 square feet in stores and the Grand Theatre. About 150,000 square feet of upscale housing will be included in the project.
Karen Cobb, Lowe’s spokeswoman, said the home improvement store will open by early 2008 and feature 117,000 square feet of retail space and a 43,000-square-foot garden center. Lowe’s invested $18.5 million in the project, which will bring 175 new jobs to the area.
Kailas estimates projects costs at $200 million, but “the numbers are still being finalized.” Kailas hopes to have financing in place by the end of the year, at which time bidding will begin for construction. Regarding financing, Kailas said, “We are looking at all options.”
The town center concept will be the only one of its kind in the New Orleans area.
“This is the future of retail,” said Steve Gibson, director of operations for the Renaissance Town Center. “Malls are phasing out around the country.”
The town center concept creates a pedestrian friendly environment for work and play. Foot traffic reduces automobile congestion and more pedestrians means more safety.
“People will always be around and that will lead to less crime,” said Tara Ermatinger, director of leasing for the Renaissance Town Center.
Lake Forest Plaza’s high-crime rates led to its decline in pre-Katrina New Orleans. “Because of the perception of the area, it was difficult to bring anchors back. ... But now, the old perception is gone,” Kailas said.
The area still has to overcome a perception by people outside New Orleans that much of the city is a ghost town.
“We have to re-educate people,” Gibson said.
Kailas is confident the Renaissance Town Center will re-establish eastern New Orleans as a vital part of the city shopping scene. “If you do a good job, the people in Metairie will come,” Kailas said.
The center would provide a much more convenient shopping area to Orleans and St. Bernard parish residents. “People don’t want to spend their tax dollars in another city,” Ermatinger said. “They don’t want to have to drive out to Metairie.”