ACADEMY AT THE ISRAEL AUGUSTINE SCHOOL

FEASIBILITY STUDY

On behalf of HANO & Urban Strategies Inc., the Tulane Regional Urban Design Center & Urban Focus® studied the development potential for the former Israel Augustine Middle School building and its associated site in Mid-City New Orleans. Through a study of zoning, parking, construction and financing, the team prepared a thorough preliminary assessment of the potential redevelopment of this site into a career academy for Housing Authority residents, a new office building, residential units and retail on the ground floor by considering various urban density models and a range of programmatic uses; analyzing municipal regulations; investigating tax incentives and other funding sources available and by applying financial analysis to a variety of proposed development scenarios.

The final recommendation includes a combination of restoring the existing school building, parceling off a section of the site for low density residential, the development of an office building that could potentially housing the Housing Authority of New Orleans and the corresponding parking. Consideration was given to serving not only HANO’s mission to build affordable housing within the offsite boundaries of the two major public housing redevelopments, but also to serve the needs of the biomedical district currently in development nearby. 

Funding considerations include the availability of New Market Tax Credits for the office buildout as well as the Academy, and costs may be reduced by gaining approval to provide shared parking among uses. Further funding from the Biomedical District for workforce housing bonding was also recommended through their workforce development initiative.