Commission splits 4-4 on the latest design for complex of apartments, shops and parking
For the second straight month, developer Praveen Kailas failed Wednesday to win a city preservation agency's approval for the design of a proposed high-rise apartment building in the Canal Street business district.
View full sizeThis rendering shows plans for apartments at the corner of Canal and Rampart streets. Once again, though, the agency's board did not reject the design, failing for the second time to reach a legal majority for either position.
The failure presents problems for City Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who wanted the agency to pass official judgment on the project's design before the council votes on whether to allow its construction. The site is in her district.
Kailas wants to tear down the long-vacant Woolworth's store at Canal and North Rampart streets and build a 500,000-square-foot building containing 312 market-rate apartments, 500 parking spaces and 38,500 square feet of retail space, perhaps including a restaurant.
The project has come under criticism from leaders of several preservation groups and French Quarter residential organizations, who say the building would be too tall and massive for the edge of the city's most historic neighborhood, even though the site is one block outside the Vieux Carre as defined by city law.
Other critics object not to the building's size, but to its design. Some take issue with its contemporary appearance. Others say it would be out of harmony with its neighbors, including the Saenger Theatre across the street.
The $70 million project is backed by many Canal Street business owners and some French Quarter residents and merchants, and it apparently also has the support of city economic development leaders and Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration, though the administration has not issued a public endorsement.
Supporters say the project would revitalize an economically distressed and visually uninviting section of Canal Street and would provide badly needed parking for the Saenger and other nearby theaters as well as for retailers. About 200 of the 500 spaces would be available for shoppers and theater patrons.
Kailas first proposed a 213-foot-tall building, three times the limit allowed by the site's zoning. In the latest design, most of the building would be 193 feet tall, with a penthouse rising 12 feet above that. At 205 feet, the penthouse would be the same height as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel a block away. The section of the building facing Canal would be 136 feet, the same as the Audubon Building next to the Ritz-Carlton.
The Central Business District panel of the Historic District Landmarks Commission voted 5-2 last month to approve the design of the building, then at 189 feet, but that was one vote short of the six needed for the 10-member commission to make an official recommendation to the council.
Trying again Wednesday, Kailas lost ground, with the commission splitting 4-4 on his latest design. One member, Chairman James Amdal, changed his vote from favorable to negative. All three of the members absent last month were present Wednesday, with two giving their assent, but two of the members who voted in favor in June were absent this time.
Kailas can take some comfort from the fact that, counting both votes, he received the support of seven of the 10 members at least once.
Like the June vote, Wednesday's action does not amount to an official statement of position by the commission, because once again neither side could get six votes.
Palmer said she wanted such a statement when she asked Kailas several months ago not to push for a council vote after the City Planning Commission voted 5-4 against the project.
The landmarks panel's Architecture Review Committee recommended against the latest proposed design, saying it looks like "multiple building facades that don't tie together" and "is still too much building, especially along Iberville Street." The building would fill the entire block along North Rampart from Canal to Iberville, the official border of the Vieux Carre.
The architects committee suggested reducing the overall height to 120 or 130 feet, but Kailas said that is not economically feasible because it would eliminate up to a third of the apartments.
From the beginning, Palmer has appeared to be willing to approve a high-rise building at the site, but she wanted to make sure its design was appropriate. Despite Wednesday's second inconclusive vote, it appears unlikely she will ask Kailas to try a third time. Instead, he is expected to ask the City Planning Commission again to approve a conditional use permit that would allow the building's height and mass to exceed the limits in the zoning code. The final decision on that request is up to the council.
Voting to approve the latest design Wednesday were Dorian Bennett, Leslie Guthrie, Hugo Kahn and Iran Thompson. Voting to reject it were Amdal, Kevin Kelly, Keith Twitchell and Robert Williams. John Boyd and Henry Lambert, both of whom voted for the design presented last month, were absent.
Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3320.