Fan James Carville calls street a 'litmus test' of New Orleans' recovery from the storm
When Thea Marvin's grandparents started a landscaping business on Freret Street in 1971, the street was a bustling commercial corridor. But changing demographic patterns and a growing fear of crime led to decades of decline, which periodic government-sponsored revitalization programs did little to reverse.
In the last several years, however, Marvin and other business owners say they've witnessed a significant resurgence in storefront occupancy, driven by an uptick in neighborhood involvement and new zoning regulations designed to promote nighttime and arts-related businesses.
"Before Katrina, a lot of the old businesses had left," said Marvin, who along with several family members runs Freret Garden and Landscape Center, originally known as Weber's. "But now things are back on the way up."
That might be an understatement. A whole new mix of businesses have made their home on Freret between Jefferson and Napoleon avenues, some filling buildings that were vacant before the storm and others replacing businesses that closed or moved out after it.
Greg Ensslen, a leader of the Freret Street Business and Property Owner Association, said only 40 of the 96 storefronts were occupied before the storm. Now, 60 are occupied and several other businesses are planning to move in.
"If you can find a piece of property for a reasonable price," Ensslen said, "get it now because some owners already have unrealistic expectations of what their property is worth."
The key to the uptick is that the neighbors fought for and won an "arts and cultural overlay district" in 2007, where entertainment and arts-related businesses not normally permitted in a neighborhood business district could be allowed and encouraged, he said.
The overlay allows art galleries and studios of any size, restaurants and theaters up to 5,000 square feet, museums, coffee shops, arts centers and green markets, and lets restaurants and theaters sell alcohol with meals or during performances. Live entertainment is also allowed in cocktail lounges and theaters, subject to noise and other regulations.
"Early on, the owner of the former Movie Pitchers was interested in locating here, but when we looked into it, it was clear he was going to have to jump through a lot of zoning hoops," Ensslen said. "It led us to think about what we wanted Freret to be like and we realized we wanted zoning that would make it easier for venues like his, more like Frenchmen Street. "
Old standbys like Bean's Formal Wear, Kehoe Automotive, Freret Hardware, Bloomin' Deals and Friar Tucks are now joined by a dog boarding business (Zeus Place), a collectible comic book shop (Crescent City Comics), an art gallery (Du Mois), a few casual eateries (Sarita's Grill, Freret Po-Boys), and a swank watering hole (Cure). There's also a comedy club, a juice bar, a Latin grocery and an insurance office.
The Freret Market, the annual Freret Festival, and Friday Night Fights at the Freret Street Gym, a favorite of political commentator and consultant James Carville, have also created a huge increase in foot traffic.
"Go there on a Friday night and there will be 1,500 people there, I swear," said Carville, who took CNN's Anderson Cooper on a tour of the corridor in the summer of 2009, identifying it then as a "litmus test" of New Orleans' recovery from the storm.
"Out of 1,000 people who come to town, 700 go to the Lower 9th Ward, 295 go to the French Quarter, four go to Audubon Park and one goes somewhere else," Carville said. "I wanted to showcase Freret Street because it has everything in the city you can have."
Renée de Ville, who owns Du Mois Gallery with her husband Jean-Paul Villere, said the cultural overlay district helped attract them to Freret Street.
"We'd been getting the feeling for a while that Freret Street was about to happen," she said. "When this building became available, we bought it almost that day."
When the couple purchased the building in 2009, tenants were occupying the space. But when the tenants left, the couple decided to take a chance on opening an art gallery, despite some fears about how it would do.
The gamble appears to be paying off: De Ville said that 200 or 300 people now swarm the small place on an average exhibition opening night.
Also contributing to the corridor's rejuvenation, Ensslen said, has been a change in leadership at the Samuel J. Green Charter School on Valence Street, which now works closely with neighbors and businesses. Another boost, he said, was the conversion of the bank at the corner of Jefferson and Freret to a high-traffic coffee shop.
"The reason this is different and the reason it is working is that it isn't a city project, it isn't a state project. It's the residents and neighbors and businesses who are leading it and making it into the neighborhood they want it to be, Ensslen said. "It's people investing their own money in it and then investing their time and energy to see to it that it succeeds."