Demolition to Begin at Former Lake Terrace Shopping Center in Gentilly
NEW ORLEANS – (RealEstateRama) — Wednesday, March 16, 2016, demolition of the former Lake Terrace Shopping Center at 1532 Robert E. Lee Blvd. in the Gentilly neighborhood will begin. Last month, the City of New Orleans announced that after years of aggressively pursuing action against the property’s former owner, DMK Acquisitions and Properties LLC (DMK), the property would be redeveloped by local developer Kenneth Lobell.
District D City Councilmember Jared C. Brossett and City officials will be available onsite to discuss the importance of this blight reduction effort and to mark the redevelopment of this important commercial property. This private property has sat blighted and vacant since it was flooded during Hurricane Katrina.
As a condition of the purchase from DMK, the City of New Orleans received $100,000 to clear the title of all code enforcement liens and fines imposed against DMK. This represents the largest single code enforcement fine paid to-date to the City of New Orleans.
Lobell’s agreement with the City requires that construction on a new commercial development begin within six months of demolishing the existing buildings on the property. The newly built commercial shopping center will include a First NBC Bank branch and approximately 6,500 square feet of general retail space.
Fight the Blight
When Mayor Landrieu took office in May 2010, New Orleans had the worst blight problem in the nation and no strategy to address it. After extensive public input, research on best practices and advice from national experts, Mayor Landrieu announced an aggressive blight reduction strategy in October 2010 with an ambitious goal of reducing the blight count in New Orleans by 10,000 units by 2014, which the City exceeded. The strategy prioritizes data-driven decision-making, innovative new enforcement policies and opportunities for reinvestment to grow and strengthen neighborhoods. Today, New Orleans as a whole has 15,000 fewer blighted addresses. In addition, the U.S. Census recently noted that New Orleans remains one of America’s fastest growing cities, and for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, the City of New Orleans is among the nation’s 50 most populous cities.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WHO: District D City Councilmember Jared C. Brossett
Chad Dyer, Director, City of New Orleans Department of Code Enforcement
Rebecca Conwell, Mayor Landrieu’s Senior Advisor for Economic Development
WHAT: Demolition of former Lake Terrace Shopping Center
WHEN: TOMORROW, March 16, 2016
8:45 a.m.
WHERE: Lake Terrace Shopping Center
1532 Robert E. Lee Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70122
