Apartments don't fit, Bywater residents say

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

By Bruce Eggler

Prominent local developer Pres Kabacoff's proposal to build a 54-unit "affordable" apartment complex in Bywater for painters, musicians, writers and other creative artists ran into a wave of opposition from nearby residents at a City Planning Commission hearing Tuesday, resulting in a split vote that will send the proposal to the City Council without an official recommendation from the commission.

The critics said they welcome residential developments in their neighborhood, but that having so many apartments in one block would cause traffic and parking problems.

The site is in Councilman James Carter's district, and the council probably will go along with his recommendation on the project, which could come up for a council vote in January.

Kabacoff said the apartments, to be known as the Bywater Art Lofts, would rent for $500 to $600 a month, or about half the current rate for other Bywater apartments.

Hundreds or thousands of artists are seeking affordable housing in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Kabacoff said, and he expects to have little trouble renting all 54 units to artists. If not enough apply, the apartments would be opened to other renters.

To get the preferred status, applicants must produce some evidence to back their claim of being an artist, but the developers won't make judgments on the quality of their work.

Staci Rosenberg, an attorney for Kabacoff's company, HRI Properties, said 40 artists already have signed up on a waiting list. Court decisions in other states have upheld the legality of giving preference to artists in such a development, she said.

HRI has done similar artists' housing projects in Hammond and Shreveport .

The company plans to use Gulf Opportunity Zone Act tax credits to finance the Bywater complex, which would be built on the site of the former J.H. Rutter Rex Manufacturing Co. sewing factory in the 3700 block of Dauphine Street . The long-closed plant has been cited as the inspiration for the Levy Pants factory that plays a prominent role in John Kennedy Toole's novel "A Confederacy of Dunces."

Kabacoff's proposal calls for renovating two existing structures, though part of one would be demolished, and building three new ones. Together, the buildings would hold 35 one-bedroom units and 19 two-bedroom units, ranging from 525 square feet to 1,360 square feet. Many would be designed to double as living and work space for artists.

The complex also would contain meeting and exhibit space.

The two-story and three-story buildings would have a maximum height of 40 feet. The Planning Commission's staff said they would be "in keeping with the scale of the surrounding neighborhood," but some neighbors said they would be too tall and would block sunlight to nearby structures.

The developers are not seeking any height, density or floor-area-ratio waivers, but their plans do require setback and open-space waivers. They also are seeking a conditional-use permit and a zoning change for two lots in the block bounded by Dauphine , Pauline , Burgundy and Independence streets.

Although the zoning law would allow as many as 57 units on the site, several speakers said the project would be too dense for Bywater. They said the 54 units could house more than 100 residents, plus employees of the complex and a large number of overnight guests, especially during Carnival and the Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Adding so many people in one block "would have a very negative effect on our neighborhood," Laura Orth said.

"The density is way out of scale," said Beth Butler, a representative of the activist group ACORN. She said 144 neighbors have signed a petition opposing the project at its proposed density.

Kabacoff said that if the site were converted to single-family houses, they could hold almost as many people as the proposed apartments.

The board of the Bywater Neighborhood Association met recently and decided to support the project, but it called for eliminating the third floor on the new buildings and reducing the number of units to 40. The board also agreed to accept a "100 percent low-income" apartment building in what it called "New Orleans' most artistic neighborhood," but only if there is a legal guarantee that artists will have first right to all the units for at least 15 years.

Rosenberg said it is not economically feasible to reduce the number of units, and that the project was awarded GO Zone low-income housing tax credits on the basis of 54 units. And even though the developers intend to rent to artists, she said, the Planning Commission cannot legally require preference for one type of renter.

The commission's staff recommended approval of the project but with a long list of provisos, including a requirement for 81 off-street parking spaces, either on the site or within 300 feet.

Rosenberg asked the commission to drop that proviso, saying there is no need for more than 54 off-street spaces, one per apartment, because many artists don't have cars, and because the neighborhood has plenty of unused street parking.

The commission voted 4-2 to support the project but to retain all the provisos recommended by its staff. That was one vote short of the five needed to adopt an official commission position.

Voting in favor were Ed Robinson, Sandra Duckworth, Lynes "Poco" Sloss and new member Kelly Richard Brown, attending her first commission meeting.

Voting against approval were Chairman Tim Jackson and Lois Carlos-Lawrence.

None of the commissioners explained their votes, but Jackson said later that he thought the project would be too dense for the neighborhood, with too little parking, and that it is not the commission's responsibility to help developers make the finances of their projects work.

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