“R.I.P. Fats,” said the message spray-painted on a flood-damaged home.
Rhythm-and-blues legend Fats Domino had been reported missing after Hurricane Katrina swept through town on Aug. 29, 2005, and a saddened fan had left the note on the side of Fats’ home.
But the master of the boogie-woogie was not silenced by Mother Nature. Fats was rescued from a rooftop in the flooded Lower 9th Ward.
Now Fats–like thousands of other New Orleans homeowners–must decide whether to rebuild.
Meanwhile, one New Orleans resident who was washed out by Katrina is looking forward to moving into a new home.
In about three months, David Pearson and his wife, Tina, will move into a house that is under construction in a new subdivision in the Lower Garden District, just a short drive from downtown and the historic French Quarter.
Called River Garden, the new subdivision is a joint project of KB Home, a national builder based in Los Angeles, and the Shaw Group Inc. of Baton Rouge, La.
The Pearsons were out of town when Katrina hit.
“We lived in Lake View [a neighborhood south of Lake Pontchartrain] in a 3,200-square-foot ranch,” said David Pearson. “Five days after Katrina, I got a small boat and went to see our house. It was flooded with five feet of water and stayed that way for the next three or four weeks.
“I waded in and salvaged one piece of art. The house had to be gutted. Not much of value was left,” Pearson said.
Even so, he is confident about the future of New Orleans:
“It has great rebounding power.”
That rebound already has started. With the gusto of a Dixieland tune, the Big Easy is marching ahead. Pockets of construction are popping up all over, as homeowners get their insurance money and decide to rehab old housing or build anew.
Another bright spot is Musicians’ Village, a development of basic New Orleans-style houses that was conceived by musicians Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. It is being built by Habitat for Humanity.
The development includes 75 single-family homesin the hard-hit Upper 9th Ward. Habitat also has located another 300 lots in the area for future construction.
“New Orleans is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., with record single-family home sales,” said Arthur Sterbcow, president of Latter & Blum Inc., a New Orleans real estate firm.
“Katrina was the big eviction notice. The city’s population dropped from 447,000 to an estimated 180,00 to 210,000 today,” Sterbcow said. “But every neighborhood will be rebuilt, even though the immediate reaction in Congress was, ‘Why rebuild in that swamp?’
“Young people under 35 years old already are coming back and buying. But the elderly and poor are tending not to come back,” he said.
Experts sayit may take 10 years to rebuild–80 percent of the city was flooded. The estimated cost: $75 billion to $100 billion.
Despite the recent boom in home sales, the city faces many major challenges.
“First, we need to fix the levees and coastal erosion,” Sterbcow said. “Dealing with insurance companies has been a nightmare for many. Insurance rates have shot up 300 to 500 percent. Plus, we have been notorious for political problems and the perception of corruption.”
Still, the housing picture is brightening. Larry Schedler, president of Larry G. Schedler & Associates, a real estate brokerage firm in Metairie, La., estimates that 15,000 housing units are being rehabbed in the city.
“Rents have risen 20 to 45 percent since Katrina and there has been a dramatic increase in insurance costs, but people are rehabbing. They’re not waiting for the mayor to make decisions. Some folks coming back are speculators who self-insure and bring their own construction crews,” Schedler said.
He predicted that New Orleans will see explosive growth in apartment construction in 2007, partly due to low-income tax credits.
“These new units will be at in-fill locations in buildings of seven to eight stories. Up to now, people here have been reluctant to live vertically, but this is an evolving market,” Schedler said.
He added that old downtown office buildings may be converted to apartments and condos.
Since much of New Orleans is below sea level, it remains a tale of two cities. The old section, including downtown, the French Quarter and the Garden District, were built on high ground. Those areas were not badly flooded and bounced back soon after the hurricane.
But low-lying neighborhoods still look like a war zone. There are streets of empty houses without windows and doors.
“In the 1940s and 1950s, New Orleans forgot history and built homes on very low ground,” explained Tom Murphy, a senior fellow of the Urban Land Institute and former mayor of Pittsburgh.
He estimated that one in 10 housing units are getting rehabbed.
“But the cost of rehabbing and insurance will not make them affordable,” he said.
Murphy recommends public/private partnerships as a catalyst to rebuilding the city.
One local contractor said new and rehabbed homes are being raised from 3 to 10 feet off the ground, depending on the elevation of the site.
“They have to be raised to meet federal requirements, insurance requirements and for the peace of mind of the residents,” said Mark Morice.
He said his firm, Mark Morice Construction Group, has been under pressure to finish projects quickly, partly because of the emotional loss suffered by those whose homes were destroyed.
Morice estimated it takes six to 10 months to finish a home, at a cost of $65 to $95 a square foot.
With all the work going on, he said some unscrupulous contractors have taken advantage of the situation.
“Rip-offs are a horrible thing,” he said.
He advised consumers to work out all details of any project in advance and get a written contract.
“New construction is scattered all over the city. Most of the houses being torn down are not historic, but rather are 20th Century ranches built on concrete slabs,” said Walter Gallas, director of the New Orleans office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“We want to make the case, though, that demolition should not be the first choice of homeowners,” Gallas said.
River Garden, where the Pearsons will move, is on high ground, 6 to 8 feet above sea level. It takes its name from the Lower Garden District and the fact that it is just a short walk from the Mississippi River. It also is not far from downtown, where Pearson and his partners plan to open a restaurant in May at Harrah’s Casino.
River Garden is a mixed-income development being built on the cleared site of the former St. Thomas public housing project.
“Fifteen of the lots have been designated affordable, according to guidelines set by the city,” said Steve Johanesen, sales agent at River Garden.
The 10 floor plans are base-priced from $305,900 to $424,000 for 1,373 to 2,305 square feet of living area. Currently, 22 homes are under construction, Johanesen said.
Caroline Shaw, senior vice president of corporate communications for KB Home, said, “KB was never in Louisiana before the hurricane, but afterwards we wanted to become involved.”
Shaw added that KB, which also has new projects in Baton Rouge, is looking for more land on which to build in the New Orleans area.
“A new subdivision just opened in North Jumonville,” said Steve Cannizaro, director of public affairs for St. Bernard Parish. The first new subdivision since Katrina, it consists of 52 lots with prices from $280,000 to $350,000.
Despite the new project, he blamed the slowness of rebuilding on “FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] red tape; the people who make the decisions are in D.C.”
He estimated that gutted homes are selling for about a third of their original value.
The largest single rehab project announced so far is slated to take place at Jackson Barracks, the home of the Louisiana National Guard in the Lower 9th Ward.
Boasting the largest grouping of antebellum homes in the U.S., the 100-acre site was flooded with 8 to 10 feet of water by Katrina.
The $200 million project will restore the fort, which was built in 1835 and named for Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans. It also was a movie set for the 1994 film, “Interview with the Vampire.”
“There’s more construction than ever in New Orleans, but housing is lacking for thousands of people. Mostly what’s being done now is middle-income and luxury housing,” said Kevin Kelly, a real estate developer and president of Port Cargo Service.
“Temporary housing in trailers is not a long-term solution,” said Jim Stark, FEMA director of the Louisiana recovery office.
In October, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco proposed an alternative to FEMA trailers, called Katrina Cottages.
“These homes are affordable, attractive and can last a lifetime. I believe FEMA will recognize the strength of our proposal and award Louisiana funds to start this important work right away,” Blanco said.
However, FEMA trailers parked in the driveways of damaged homes are a sign of life, according to Gallas of the National Trust of Historic Preservation: “A trailer means people are living there while repairing their houses.”
As for Fats Domino: “His house was gutted but he is planning to rebuild. He wants to come back,” Gallas said.
