[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish scraps redevelopment plans for Village Square tract

[Westley Annis]

Once again it appears that greed is raising its ugly head.  At this point,
why can't parish government use their legal authority to condemn properties
and/or cite owners and get commitments for redevelopment, rather than let
this rat-infested embarrassment continue to exist.  From my own perspective,
I thought (and still think) that Village Square is the perfect location for
the new hospital. - But then again, I cannot understand how the parish can
remotely consider having Oshner come in and take over.  Where were they
after the storm.  We owe it to the current operators, who have a PROVEN
history of success in their hospital endeavors, to continue what they have
started.  I am sure that there is a lot more going on behind doors that I
don't know about, so it would be nice to see an article of facts (not
opinions) as to the entire Village Square and Hospital fiasco's.
 
JFR


	-----------------------------------------------------
	St. Bernard Parish scraps redevelopment plans for Village Square
tract
	by Chris Kirkham, St. Bernard bureau, The Times-Picayune
	Sunday May 24, 2009, 9:29 PM
	
	Blighted before Katrina and vacant since, Village Square is in the
heart of
	Chalmette. After nearly four years of government attempts to buy and
	rehabilitate a 37-acre tract of overgrown lots and ungutted
apartments in
	the heart of Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish is back to the drawing
board in
	negotiating with more than 100 landlords in its largest patch of
blighted
	property.
	
	After several attempts that came up short, the parish's
redevelopment
	commission has scrapped plans from earlier this year to combine
public and
	private dollars to buy the Village Square tract and encourage new
	development in its place.
	
	The buyout will still move forward, but the parish has decided to
focus on
	simpler incentives to encourage empty green space instead of
commercial real
	estate investment, leading to a philosophical divide about what the
future
	holds for the area.
	
	
	As a result, the parish's private redevelopment partner, CBO
Financial Inc.
	of Maryland, walked away from completed buyout negotiations this
month with
	more than 80 property owners -- almost three-quarters of the entire
tract.
	The delays have left frustrated landlords in limbo and kept vacant
eyesores
	standing for years.
	
	Instead of a plan that aimed to combine green space and commercial
	redevelopment on the Village Square footprint, the parish is
primarily using
	FEMA money that will permanently prevent development on much of the
land.
	Concerns about buying out all the owners and having enough money to
reinvest
	caused the parish to abandon the targeted redevelopment effort in
favor of
	the green space approach in recent weeks.
	
	Money comes from the hazard mitigation grant program, a federal
incentive to
	prevent property damage in vulnerable areas such as flood zones. It
is a
	voluntary program, meaning there could be pockets of green space and
pockets
	of development throughout the area.
	
	Another option
	
	Though redevelopment on the land would be largely impossible under
that
	approach, Parish President Craig Taffaro said it is a much better
option
	than the status quo.
	
	"The ultimate goal would be to have the property in a position that
allowed
	us to redesign it and redevelop it in a way that would be productive
for the
	long term," he said. "But that only is secondary to acquisition
first.
	Acquisition is the absolute primary goal, and has been since
Hurricane
	Katrina."
	
	Some Parish Council members have said they feel St. Bernard is
missing out
	on an opportunity to shape long-term development in an area that had
fallen
	into serious disrepair long before Katrina swamped it.
	
	Councilmen George Cavignac and Wayne Landry had pushed to use the
Village
	Square land as a site for the parish's first post-Katrina hospital.
Because
	the area is designated as a low-income census tract, a $58 million
hospital
	investment in the area could generate more than $6 million in
additional
	revenue to use for construction of a medical office building on the
site,
	they said.
	
	The parish's hospital service district board in February chose
another site
	in Chalmette donated by the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable
Foundation.
	
	"It's a patchwork, non-common-sense approach on the land that won't
do
	anything for sound economic development or revitalizing the adjacent
area,
	which is the smart thing to do," Cavignac said. "We have the chance
to lift
	up a long-declining area, in decline since the '70s. Doing it the
right way
	wouldn't slow anything down."
	
	Landry and Cavignac, who last week were voted by the council onto
the
	hospital board, say Village Square is still a viable alternative to
the
	Meraux Foundation site, which sits across from Chalmette Battlefield
off St.
	Bernard Highway. But Taffaro said the Village Square area once
considered as
	a hospital site must be offered up as a FEMA green space property
before a
	June 1 deadline.
	
	Changing plan
	
	The current plan for Village Square differs markedly from one agreed
to just
	four months ago, which involved a combination of green space and a
ring of
	commercial development along Oak Tree Lane, Southern Place, Plymouth
Drive
	and the eastern side of De La Ronde Drive.
	
	Under that version of the plan, the parish would have partnered with
a
	private investor, CBO Financial Inc. of Maryland. A subsidiary of
CBO,
	Village Square Redevelopment LLC, would buy up the entire tract from
the
	property owners and then sell nearly 70 percent of it to the parish
in
	exchange for the FEMA green space money. The rest of the acquisition
costs
	would be covered with $6 million in Community Development Block
Grant money
	pledged by the parish.
	
	The transaction would have generated an additional $4 million from a
U.S.
	Treasury tax-credit program aimed at rehabbing low-income
communities, which
	CBO could have used for future development on the site.
	
	But problems arose last month when Village Square property owners
started
	receiving letters from a parish contractor, Global Risk Solutions,
about how
	much they could receive directly from FEMA as opposed to taking
CBO's offer
	of $8 per square foot. The FEMA program gives landowners the
pre-Katrina
	value of their property, minus any insurance proceeds, in exchange
for
	handing over the property to the parish for permanent green space.
	
	Property owners who were insured might not be interested in the
offer, but
	those who did not get insurance payments could potentially receive
much more
	than the $8 per square foot. In addition, state officials informed
St.
	Bernard that the $6 million in block grant funds might not be enough
to
	cover additional property-acquisition costs.
	
	So with more than 80 properties set for closing, CBO let the
contracts
	expire this month and is now sitting on the sidelines.
	
	"Obviously we don't have a problem with them making a decision
that's most
	advantageous to the people down there, but it's just causing us to
wait and
	see what happens," said Dmitri Wasilewski, vice president of
projects and
	development with CBO Financial. "Everything had to come together at
the
	right time, and in January it looked like that was happening.
Obviously some
	of the stars didn't line up, and that's business."
	
	Seeking advice
	
	The parish redevelopment commission has decided to hire a planning
expert
	for advice about redevelopment once the amount of green space is
set.
	Taffaro said there is a possibility of using the block grant money
to
	redevelop an area of storefronts along Judge Perez Drive just south
of the
	apartments.
	
	At this point, the green space buyout is the lone incentive being
offered by
	the parish at Village Square. The program is voluntary, but many
property
	owners in the area have had few options since Hurricane Katrina. A
series of
	parishwide construction bans for large apartments immediately after
the
	storm, and again last year, prevented owners from rebuilding.
	
	And the parish has continued to make overtures about buyouts for
years,
	drawing complaints from owners who feel they have been strung along.
	
	"What irritates me is that I've lost rental income, my buildings are
missing
	and I have land that I can't do anything with, because I'm at the
parish's
	will," said Omar Hamide, a landlord who once owned 31 units in
Village
	Square and now has six slabs to his name in St. Bernard. "Every time
I try
	to get out, they pull the plug."
	
	The only other option would be for owners to rebuild, now that a
federal
	judge has ordered the Parish Council to lift the apartment-building
ban.
	
	Out of 104 properties in the area, 18 have reached a deal on the
green space
	plan. Another 54 have expressed interest, and the parish is awaiting
a
	response for 31 others. One landowner has refused to take the
buyout.
	
	Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham at timespicayune.com or
504.826.3321.