Harmony Oaks
Another “Big Four” public housing
development, C.J. Peete, underwent a major transformation in the years after
Katrina.
National developer McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS) partnered with Landwide Development and New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative, now known as Harmony Neighborhood Development, to redevelop the Central City site into mixed-income housing.
The $172 million Harmony Oaks created 466 units of low-income, workforce, and market-rate housing, including 193 units set aside for public housing residents; reintroduced the street grid to reconnect the residents to the surrounding community; renovated an existing community center to house supportive-service programs; created a new park that preserves several oak trees, a community pool, and retail.
“It has accomplished what everyone has hoped for. We wanted to make sure that we were providing enough units for those 144 families living there at the time of the storm,” says Yusef Freeman, a vice president at MBS. “Every residential building has one market-rate, one public housing, and one affordable unit. We were really happy that we could create true economic integration.”
Seventy-one former residents returned to Harmony Oaks, with six of the former public housing families moving into market-rate units and four moving into tax credit units.
Urban Strategies, MBS’ nonprofit affiliate, provides supportive services for former and new residents.
MBS continues to remain active in New Orleans on the
redevelopment of the final “Big Four” public housing development B.W. Cooper,
renamed Marrero Commons, with Columbus, Ohio-based KBK Enterprises, B.W. Cooper Resident Management Corp., and HANO.
The developer also is a key partner in the city’s Iberville Choice
Neighborhoods Initiative.