The dorm rooms will be well branded

The City Council approved Wisznia's bowling alley barracks thing. That's bad enough. What's worse is we find Councilman Jay Banks, as well as one housing advocacy group willing to go along with the pretense that $1400 for a dorm room* is anything other than an insult. 

Andreanecia Morris, executive director of the advocacy group HousingNola, has supported the project since its inception. She said that while the housing need in New Orleans is most acute among its poorest residents, rising housing costs also have hit professions such as teachers, hospitality workers and paralegals.

"We need those people's needs met, too," she said, noting that her support for Two Saints is contingent on it actually serving those people.

Ha ha, no. No this isn't going to help any of those people. But hey thanks for your "contingent" support.  I'm sure they'll feel real bad if you have to withdraw it. 

*A last minute proviso "sets aside" 20 of the 218 dorm rooms at $700. But as Cashauna Hill implies here, we all know that doesn't serve any purpose beyond tokenism.

The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center had opposed the development, with Executive Director Cashauna Hill writing to City Council members to say projects like Two Saints risked being empty gestures by developers while doing little to address the city's lack of affordable housing.

"In a moment when nearly everyone agrees that New Orleans is in the midst of an affordability crisis, it is important to be precise about 'affordability,' so that the word doesn't become a branding tool devoid of meaning," Hill wrote.

They only listen to other rich people

Marcel Wiznia's obscene plan to build a co-living barracks and call it "workforce housing" has finally run into opposition that decision makers might listen to. Of course the slow down isn't happening because anyone has pointed out the insult that this farce is to housing-poor working class New Orleanians.  Instead it is because the bowling arcade it is attached to might compete with Walk-On's. 

The IDB review came after opponents, including Kyle Brechtel, a partner with Wisznia in Merchant, an upscale café and crêperie, had complained to the IDB that the Two Saints project had changed substantially since the tax break was granted.

The main change from the original proposal is a doubling in the retail space to nearly 25,000 square feet, which Wisznia proposes will be leased to Punch Bowl Social, a Denver-based franchise that features bowling, darts, karaoke and other entertainment, as well as a large bar and restaurant.

Brechtel owns the Walk-On's down the street as well as the other bowling arcade at Fulton Alley which is also nearby.  He says he "doesn't mind the competition" but, before the change, didn't seem to mind the rest of the project. Now, of course, he's learned some obvious things about it.

"I employ about 200 people in my restaurants and none of them think that $1,400 a month for a dorm room is affordable," Brechtel said.

Wisznia has stipulated that rents for the controlled units will run between $1,376 and $1,572 per month for individuals and households making between $35,000 and $60,000 a year.

$1376 is laughably unaffordable for somebody making $35,000  even if we're talking about a private one bedroom apartment. Who in the world would think it's good policy to apply public money to a project asking them to pay that for a bunk bed? Oh wait... here is who would think that.

Two Saints has its supporters, including Mayor LaToya Cantrell, whose representatives spoke in support of the project at the recent IDB meeting.

Yesterday, when reporters asked the mayor to comment on the continuing controversy over her tax liens, she explained that, if anything, the situation shows just how well she indentifies with the struggles of working class New Orleanians. 

“I will say to the people of this city they have a mayor who really gets it and is dealing with challenges and difficulties her own self, and at the same time doing what it takes to deal with the needs of people,” she said.

As mayor, Cantrell will make more than $174,650 this year. A 2018 financial disclosure report listed her husband’s income as more than $100,000. Last year’s financial disclosure form is not due to be turned in until May.

We're meeting our housing crisis by giving more money to rich developers so they can make bowling dorms the "workforce" still can't afford. But it's okay because you have a mayor who really gets it. 

The real problem with caring for the homeless is there's no money in it

Ozanam Inn is being kicked out of its building after 64 years. The reason is it turned out, finally, to have been bad business?

According to its tax filings, St. Vincent de Paul over the past four years has seen a sharp step-down in gross receipts, from nearly $900,000 in the year ended September 30, 2016 to below $600,000 in the year to end September, 2018, the latest tax year filed.

Expenses have consistently outstripped revenues, and in the latest year, the accounts show an unexplained $311,000 write off in the value of its assets which, together with the deficit, meant assets fell to $1.75 million from $2.1 million.

The society at one point operated a half dozen thrift shops in New Orleans, but this has contracted in recent years so that it now operates just one shop on the Westbank, on 4th Street in Marrero.

The article points a bunch of fingers at the St.VdP director. And who are we to say anything about that situtation. But the bigger question here is, was booting a homeless shelter out in favor of a "hotel and parking garage" during a housing crunch really the best solution?  Who decides these things anyway?

Maybe it's just plain old capitalism at work where all parties compete on perfectly equal footing in the fair and free market.  Right?

Demma went on to say that Ozanam Inn would have the right of first refusal to buy the Camp Street building if they could come up with $100,000 "earnest monies" and reach a deal on the final amount.

Last month, Demma told members that 843 Camp Street had been sold to an unnamed developer. Documents showed that the building was sold for a nominal $100 and that St. Vincent de Paul issued a $2.69 million mortgage note to Excel Advertising Group LLC, a company registered in Delaware, which is the official buyer.

Ozanam says their $3.5 million offer was rejected in favor of this $100 dollar up front investment. So whose money is that?  Stay tuned because it is a mystery.

Although the story does provide us with a tantalizing lead.

Excel lists Michael Boudreaux, a New Orleans property management agent, as its sole officer and he signed the sale document. Also, John Holmes of True Title in Metairie was listed as the buyer's authorized agent on the sale. Neither responded to requests for comment.

Several people who have been privately briefed and didn't want to be quoted by name said the owner is a long-time New Orleans developer who has built hundreds of condominium units, sub-divisions and commercial real estate in and around the city, including the conversion of a landmark riverside historic property into condominiums.

LOL, they obviously know who it is. Is it Sean Cummings? That sounds a lot like Sean Cummings. It could be several other people too. (I think the suggestion that it could be Marcel Wisznia is kind of elegant since it makes sense that the guy building a "co-living" development would be interested in a homeless shelter.) But why give us this many clues and not just say who it is?  I'll bet John Georges knows who it is.

John Georges, who along with his wife, Dathel, owns The Times-Picayune|The New Orleans Advocate, said the company — a direct neighbor of Ozanam Inn — is interested in jointly developing the proposed parking lot.

"We would certainly welcome the redevelopment, and I was happy to hear Ozanam Inn has opportunities for other locations that should be announced before the end of the year as part of a master plan to address the homeless situation," said Georges.

So instead of Ozanam buying the building for $3.5 million, we have this alternate transaction where it transfers (for $100!) to a mystery "long-time New Orleans developer" and John Georges is possibly cut in on it in some way.  Of course that looks real bad if it means actually booting homeless people onto the street. We're gonna need some help to keep that from happening.  Luckily the city has already stepped in to facilitate.

Ozanam Inn's plans depend on a broad agreement with homelessness agencies being negotiated with the city of New Orleans.

"We are aware of the recent sale of Ozanam Inn's building, and we're in close contact with their staff and board of directors as they determine their next steps," said a spokesperson for the City, who declined to comment on talk among homeless advocates that city land on Poydras Street near South Claiborne Avenue had been earmarked as an alternative location for Ozanam Inn and other housing.

This looks like it's been in the works for quite a while. Rich developer gets a free building. Local magnate gets a piece. The city gets to maximize the property's revenue potential. All they had to do was scoot a decades-old charitable institution out of the way. Remains to be seen what the city's homeless advocates and their clients end up with out of the deal.  We sure hope it's a "fair share."