Summary
Like so much else in the city, the future of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority sits under a fat question mark.It is not known when NORA, a state agency the city pays to get rid of blighted property, will begin accepting new applications from people interested in buying those properties. NORA stopped accepting applications after Hurricane Katrina.The city has not yet contracted with NORA for 2006, which should have happened in the first quarter, said NORA Executive Director Lisa Mazique. In 2005, the city paid NORA $1.3 million, she said. NORA is operating on reserves of roughly $500,000.NORA should become a more effective agency post- Katrina, she said.We could be doing so much more, Mazique said. We welcome the opportunity to grow.In January, the Land Use Committee of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission expressed interest in an Urban Land Institute recommendation of creating the Crescent City Recovery Corp. to oversee redevelopment. The LUC suggested creating a new entity or retooling NORA to do the job.NORA's redefined role remains unclear.My appreciation is that there has been no final decision to date, Mazique said.Mazique did not rule out NORA becoming the new blighted housing authority.NORA would like to serve the city in the role that best suits their priorities. Many functions attributed to the concept corporation may be mandated and subsequently performed by existing entities, with the political will to staff, fund and direct them appropriately, she said.
'At a standstill'The city will roll out a request this month for proposals and qualifications from those interested in redeveloping bundles of hurricane-ravaged properties, said Mazique.NORA's board didn't want to conflict with the city's larger concerted effort for those properties, which is why it stopped accepting applications, she said. For us it's just an effort of alignments, she said.NORA is still processing applications submitted before Katrina, she said.At this point, NORA's been at a standstill, said Chris Ross, property acquisition manager for the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative, a nonprofit designed to increase affordable housing stocks.The Legislature created NORA in 1968 to eliminate blighted property in New Orleans. Blighted property is defined as dangerous to the public or neighboring property. NORA has the ability to expropriate property the city declares blighted.After NORA obtains properties, it helps demolish, renovate and sell them to developers such as nonprofits.NORA sells the property at appraised value and the cost of two appraisals plus a fee.See the full content of this document
Extract
New Orleans Blight Left Untouched
NORA criticismNORA does not have a spotless reputation among developers, who criticize...
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