Development would have hotel, water park, 1,500 residences

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

By Greg Thomas

A $200 million proposal involving 1,500 condo units in four to five high-rises on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain will be presented to the Orleans Parish Levee Board today by a California construction company and a local entrepreneur.

The mixed-use development proposal also includes entertainment venues, an indoor-outdoor water park, a 350-room hotel, and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space. The condos would sell for between $150,000 and $300,000 each and the condo towers could climb as high as 40 stories.

The 14- to 20-acre site is roughly bounded by Lakefront Drive and Leroy Johnson Drive and is generally located behind the FBI Headquarters on the Lakefront. All of the land is owned by the Orleans Levee Board and would be leased from the board.

The project also calls for a large beach improvement and the creation of a landscaped public space along the lakefront.

The development group, doing business as NOLATOWN, is headed by Rickey Spearman of New Orleans. Spearman, who is temporarily living in Atlanta because of Hurricane Katrina, is serving as chief executive and president of the group. He is joined by partners Glenn Broom and Demic Smothers. The three are partnering with California-based International Professional Packaging Co. Inc., or IPPC. Representing IPPC today at the meeting will be Carey Smith, IPPC's chief executive officer, and Samuel Banks, the firm's vice president of new business.

Spearman said they hope to obtain a lease within 30 days, complete due diligence within 90 days, close the deal and break ground at the end of the year or early 2007.

Smith said they have strong relationships with major lenders and will not require government subsidies. IPPC is just closing on a massive 3,000-acre project in the Dominican Republic that involves 8.5 miles of beachfront and, according to Smith, more than a dozen luxury hotels along with residences.

This is the second $200 million proposal for land owned by the Orleans Levee Board since June.

Atlantis Internet Group Corp. in July also proposed developing a hotel and gambling complex at the agency's dormant South Shore Harbor marina. The Atlantis project involves a 95-room floating luxury hotel, an outdoor amphitheater and 60 waterfront town homes. Long-term, the Atlantis project, which would stretch along Hayne Boulevard facing the lake, would involve the construction of hundreds of new town homes and entertainment venues.

Donald Bailey of the Atlantis Group said that while his company wants to pursue all available tax incentives, it is prepared to use private money to build the development.

Because both the Atlantis project and the NOLATOWN project are situated on land owned by the Levee Board, both projects could be impacted by pending legislation to combine the state's levee boards into one system. Such a legislative move would end the local board's sole control over the land. The Governor's Division of Administration would instead be responsible for any land owned by the boards.

NOLATOWN's Spearman said he wants to get a lease fast-tracked before such a change is made.

"Politically, we'd rather deal with Orleans Parish than a state board," Spearman said.

Both the NOLATOWN and Atlantis projects involve the use of what is commonly called the seven-acre peninsula near the waterfront. That piece of land is the only area where the two proposals overlap, Spearman said.

Banks of IPPC said that the project is exactly what eastern New Orleans needs.

"There isn't anything really in the area now," Black said. "You can't buy a pack of gum. This is the first time (a group) can bring residential, commercial, entertainment and retail to the area . . . This is an opportunity to build what is missing there" in eastern New Orleans.

Due diligence will be critical for the project as engineers would have to conduct testing to determine if the soils could support high-rise construction, which would be the first on the lakefront outside the area near the Jefferson-Orleans parish line.

The major portion of the NOLATOWN proposal is a series of towers, the exact number undetermined, that could rise as high as 40 stories. In total, 1,500 condos would be built. [2617955]

This possible design could be used to build condos and a portion of the 100,000 square feet of commercial space proposed. All of the land is owned by the Orleans Levee Board and would be leased from the board. [2617956]

The proposal calls for a 350-room hotel. An indoor-outdoor water park is also part of the $200 million project. [2617957]

The Atlantis Internet Group in July revealed plans for a hotel and gambling complex at the dormant South Shore Harbor marina. The Atlantis project includes a 95-room floating luxury hotel, an outdoor amphitheater and 60 waterfront town homes. It was the first of two large multi-use developments proposed this summer for the New Orleans lakefront. [2495931]

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Greg Thomas can be reached at gthomas@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3399.