Starting Slow, New Orleans Rebuild Is Gathering Up Support
More than a year after Hurricane Katrina, troubling questions still remain about the wisdom of building in parts of New Orleans and the city’s ability to sustain jobs and economic growth. A recent failed housing megaproject there provides some insight into the problems, but many other project opportunities are popping up.
The 3,000-acre Churchill Farms development on the city’s west bank was to have been New Orleans’ first mega-housing project since Katrina ripped up the city in August 2005. With potentially thousands of homes, the development was proposed by KB/Shaw Louisiana LLC, a joint venture of giant homebuilder KB Home, Los Angeles, and big industrial contractor Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge.