NEW ORLEANS — With the passing of local real estate developer Joe Jaeger in June, questions continue surrounding the redevelopment of his blighted properties. Neighbors in the Bywater are in that number with concerns about the old Naval Base.
Monday's meeting will start at 5:30 pm at the Stallings Rec Center 4300 St Claude Ave, New Orleans.
While the city owns the site, Jaeger signed a multi-year lease which left him spearheading the redevelopment of the property. Councilman Freddie King III is calling a meeting for community stakeholders and neighbors so developers can share the status of the project and how much funding has been secured.
Brian Gibbs Development, who worked on the project with Jaeger before he died, is now taking over. In a statement to WWL Louisiana, Peter Aamodt with the development team said, "It's basically a new kickoff meeting to talk about the status of the project, the latest funding source, and also with Mr. Jaeger's passing, who will be leading the effort to move the project forward. We're in the middle of extensive due diligence on the project. We're excited about the opportunity that this could bring to the Bywater neighborhood and New Orleans as a city."
King said initial plans that included over 200 housing units and retail space will still be a part of the plan. President of the Bywater Neighborhood Association John Guarnieri said at this point people just want to see progress.
"It's been described as Thunderdome. There's been lots of criminal activity, chop shops, just a lot of things, people leaving the property and, you know, moving out throughout the neighborhood. So it's just been pretty disruptive and not safe," said Guarnieri.
He said he's interested to hear more about the specifics of funding from the developers. It's a topic Jaeger admitted was a challenge before his death.
Guarnieri said, "The one funding that had been in place for quite some time was the historic tax credits but the historic tax credits alone were not enough to develop the property. This state grant they just recently got is going to make a huge difference."
The price tag for the project still sits at $166 million. A $20 million state grant was recently awarded to the project but it's still unclear exactly how much funding the project has and how much more is left to secure.
"At this point, we've waited for 10 years, and it's always been couple months, we'll know a couple months. It's just time to make it happen," said Guarnieri.
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