Little action follows New Orleans tower plans

“We’re taking a wait-and-see attitude to see where construction costs go,” he said.

Other developers say they aren’t giving up on the market. The first high-rise project to break ground could be Tracage (the French word for “loft”), a 24-story condo complex planned for the Warehouse District.

Jason Voyles, the Jackson, Miss.-based developer of the $60 million project, said he acquired rights to the property before Katrina, but didn’t close the deal until after the storm.

“We were committed to New Orleans and wanted to make it happen,” Voyles said.

Voyles said he has pre-sold 65 percent of 126 units, which range in price from $266,000 to $2.5 million. Construction will begin sometime this fall, he added.

“We believe in the project. We believe in the city. We are not scared to take calculated risks,” he said.

The city hasn’t seen many commercially driven projects that match the scale of the residential high-rises proposed by Trump and other developers. A notable exception is a $715 million redevelopment announced last May by Strategic Hotels and Resorts, Chicago-based owners of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans.

The company’s blueprint called for opening a park, a National Jazz Center and government offices along with repairing and renovating the hotel, which is next to the Louisiana Superdome. The high-rise hotel was heavily damaged by Katrina, and is expected to reopen next year. Strategic hasn’t set a timetable for construction on the rest of the project.

Company chief executive Laurence Geller, said plans for the jazz center have been adjusted to reflect “all of the real estate hurdles we encountered.” He described New Orleans as “a challenging city in which to get things done.”

The city’s overall rebuilding hasn’t moved at the anticipated pace, but there has been progress, he wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

“We remain optimistic that the local, state and federal governments will act in concert and build momentum,” Geller wrote.

Next to the Hyatt and across from the Superdome — the refurbished stadium that’s perhaps the most positive symbol of the city’s recovery — is a pockmarked office building that sends a very different message about progress in New Orleans.

The storm-shattered windows on Dominion Tower seem out of place at the heart of the city’s bustling business district, where top-of-the-line high-rises have more tenants than before the hurricane. Market watchers say that’s because many smaller or older office buildings have not been repaired.

The 26-story Dominion Tower, which includes the New Orleans Shopping Centre, is one of several office buildings owned by Judah Hertz. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based real estate investor said he will begin repairing broken windows soon, but doesn’t have any firm plans to reopen either the office building or the shopping center. Macy’s, the shopping mall’s major tenant, has said it will not reopen its downtown store or another in suburban Kenner.

“We’re just going over our different options,” Hertz said.

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