In January 2019, New Orleans Council Member Joseph Giarrusso passed a motion to raise the allowable building height to 65’ in 127 acres of West End from Lakeshore Drive through the Marina. This provides for a fourth floor of living space in housing structures. At that council meeting, Lakeshore Property Owners President Ray Landeche advised against the change.
The extra floor of living space made The Pearl project financially viable. In June 2022, Sixty Marina residents turned out to defeat The Pearl project at the Louisiana State Department of Natural Resources meeting. As earlier reported: https://hayride1.wpenginepowered.com/2022/06/west-end-projects-the-money-is-not-worth-the-damage/
At the December 5, 2022, Marina meeting attended by 50’ residents, Council Member Giarrusso was asked to rescind the allowable height back to 60’, he declined.
In May 2021, Giarrusso passed a motion creating a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the State of Louisiana, Jefferson Parish, and the City of New Orleans calling for development of West End Lake Shore Park with allowable options which “may include restaurants, residents, parking, and other improvements.” “Other Improvements” could include an amphitheater.
In March of 2019, John Elkington, who in the 1980s redeveloped Beale Street in Memphis, and is founder of Performa Entertainment Real Estate and Elkington Real Estate Group, filed with the SEC regarding its plans for a $1.1MM initial capital raise and acknowledged potential future capital raises of $100MM to advance multiple entertainment district projects in Nashville, New Orleans, and Alabama. Elkington sees a music triangle of Memphis, Nashville, and New Orleans. He has had discussions with local officials.
Also speaking at the December 5, 2022, meeting was State Rep Stephanie Hilferty. With most of the residents at the meeting wanting to retain the park, an issue of concern raised by residents is ACT 209 of 1906.
ACT 209 of 1906 created the state lease of West End Lake Shore Park to be used as a “Public Park or Amusement Park.” It was mentioned that the old Fitzgerald’s restaurant site is outside the park and could be developed without revising ACT 209 of 1906. Hilferty stated that one restaurant was not enough, and that four restaurants or bars are preferred by the developers.
The thought of four bands playing in a 1.8-acre parcel of land causes other concerns as the noise volume coming from the restaurants and bars on Lakeshore is already exceeding code levels. Expanding Public Safety needs with New Orleans unstaffed police force was discussed in September in The Hayride. https://hayride1.wpenginepowered.com/2022/09/marsala-we-cant-keep-expanding-new-orleans-disasters/
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Parking is expected to be a problem. Back in 1991, the West End Business Association requested the city of New Orleans begin developing part of the park on the east side of West Roadway by adding 200 spaces to deal with the insufficient parking for the restaurants and bars on the water in Jefferson Parish.
In 10 years, the boathouse leases on South Roadway expire and will likely be rebuilt in a manner that requires more parking at West End Lake Shore Park.
During the meeting, Giarrusso stated that when Hilferty presents a bill in the state legislature to revise ACT 209 of 1906 and allow other uses of the park, housing will be omitted. He declined to remove it from the CEA.
A concern is that if Hilferty’s bill passes, in future years more of West End Lake Shore Park with be converted to mixed-use as it appears the proposals are putting 8-acres of development in a 2-acre area. This was first reported in The Hayride in April.
In the meantime, the blight at the Seawall in Jefferson Parish continues since Hurricane Katrina.
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