Media Clips

The May 12 Federal City presentation, the last of three meetings aimed at incorporating community input, showed the promise of the project and of the master planning process being used to create the plan.

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David Mize described the objectives of Federal City as, "to create a new model for private/military partnerships, to make sure we give a good return on the state's $150 million investment, an economic development effort by far the largest in Louisiana and to be the engine that drives the growth and renewal of the West Bank."

Led by world-renowned urban planner Andres Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk, the series of meetings provided opportunities for residents to express their concerns and provide input into what would become the master plan for Federal City. Duany explained that DPZ "designs walkable, compact, diverse neighborhoods."

He showed how office, residential, retail and parking structures were placed strategically to maximize quality of life and retail commercial success.

The best news for Algiers, Duany said, is that Federal City "represents the permanent infusion of 10,000 jobs," as opposed to the benefits driven by the existing Naval Support Activity, which "only bulks up in times of war." Those jobs, he said, would translate into greater stability for Algiers real estate values and greater success for retail establishments.

The anchor of the project is the Marine Command Center. According to Duany, "1,700 Marines, tending to be higher-ranking, will command the Marines from this site." The plan includes a secured area that will house the Marine facility and other high-security military applications. The secured area is limited to part of the upriver side of the base. The majority of the site will be accessible to the general public, including housing, shopping, dining and other public facilities.

"Anyone can open a business. The gym, tennis courts and pool are for the entire community, not just the military," Duany said. "We're hoping to get a 30,000-square-foot Rouse's. It's going to be a tremendous community asset."

In earlier meetings, residents and business owners along the Newton-Teche corridor were concerned that the commercial development within Federal City would hurt the planned revival of their area. At the May 12 meeting, Duany said the project would open up the NSA site and weave the surrounding neighborhoods together into a unified Algiers. He showed that the site would have several entrances, with streets going all the way through, opening up the area to neighborhoods surrounding Behrman Park, and to Tunisburg and beyond.

The design "weaves Algiers together in all directions." The area will be more densely developed than the current NSA.

"We're going back to the old New Orleans, with tight, traffic-calmed streets" and the look of a neighborhood rather than an office park.

In earlier meetings, residents of Tunisburg, the neighborhood immediately downriver from the site, expressed concern that they were being left out of the project and cut off from the economic improvements promised.

"Virtually everything you asked for, we were able to deliver," Duany said. "We were asked to include the Tunisburg neighborhood. . . . From now on you will always see the Tunisburg neighborhood included.

The plan includes the redesign of the Walker, Delgado and Tubman campuses. Tubman would move onto the Federal City site, and some of the Walker and Delgado buildings would remain while others would be replaced with more attractive buildings, parking areas and green spaces.

Duany mentioned that two small high schools, a maritime academy and a high-tech school would be built on the Federal City property.

"What will make this successful is the quality of education we can provide through Walker, Tubman and other schools," said Pres Kabacoff, CEO and Co-Chairman of developer HRI/ECC. "If this community can become known as a center of fine education, and build off of the brand of the Marines," that would be a major victory for Algiers.

Federal City is designed to be green, with solar collectors on the roofs of the parking garages, and even wind and river turbines at the end of every street.

Asked how far the state's $150 million would go toward realizing the plan, Mize said, "We're still finalizing all the contract costs. If I had to estimate, I'd say we'll need $125 to 135 million for the secured compound" portion of the project. For the rest, they will pursue other sources of money, including historic tax credits, new market tax credits, stimulus money aimed at providing green energy and private capital from developers.

"This is going to be the blueprint that we're going to push hard to move forward," he said.