IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO UNITE A COMMUNITY

Bold University Village proposal brings together residents, students,

By: Christopher Snizik and Misty Soto

Posted: 4/27/07

When he looks at the cratered blacktop and flood-damaged houses on Calhoun Street north of South Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans architect Jay Dufour sees something very different: a picturesque, pedestrian-friendly corridor of small offices, shops, or art galleries mixed with residences in a revitalized district called University Village.

Dufour, 36, who is on the executive committee of the Claiborne-University Neighborhood Association (CUNA), has been working with owners of existing businesses to piece together a vision of an urbane neighborhood center. Students and residents might shop, relax on sidewalk benches, or eat at one of the restaurants that have reopened, such as Ted’s Frostop with its giant upside-down root beer mug.

“We’ve got a synergy there that we can really build upon,” Dufour said, referring to the cooperative spirit behind the project.

A loosely knit consortium is driving the University Village concept. Competing business owners have joined together with CUNA to develop a plan. Last fall, students at Tulane’s School of Architecture joined the effort to help bring their vision to closer to reality.

Stephen Verderber, an architecture professor at Tulane, believes University Village, which is immediately adjacent to Tulane’s campus, will become an energetic center of student activity.

The project would unite the Calhoun Shopping District on the north side of South Claiborne Avenue with Tulane’s campus, which is on the other side of South Claiborne.

Through the decades, the area “has evolved in virtual isolation from Tulane’s campus,” Verderber said. “The contrast is stark, in fact striking, from one side of South Claiborne to the other.”

Verderber organized a design competition, which was completed in November, as a way for Tulane architecture students to become meaningfully involved in the development.

The students submitted designs for urban elements such as outdoor seating, lighting, awnings, and paving patterns. They also sought to address infrastructural improvements: drainage, street conditions, and traffic lights.

The University Village plan calls for the rezoning of a section of Calhoun Street. Currently, the first two blocks of Calhoun north of South Claiborne are zoned light commercial. Beyond South Tonti Street, Calhoun is zoned residential. Under the plan, the residential section would be changed to a “mixed use” zoning, which would extend University Village all the way to Fontainebleu Drive.

The new zoning would be much more restrictive than the light commercial zone at South Claiborne. It would only allow establishments that operate during “business hours,” such as dentist offices, florists, book shops, hairdressers, and the like.

Additionally, vehicular and pedestrian access needs to be improved. Several changes are proposed, including the addition of turnabouts or the extension of one or two cross streets, but some of the people involved feel that these alterations may be unrealistic.

Of course, any such changes require the approval of current property owners. “We want to get everybody together before even trying anything like that,” Dufour said. “We’re not going to push anything too hard on the people that live there.”

Louis Good of Loumar LLC, a real estate company that operates a shopping center and office building at South Claiborne and Calhoun Streets, has spoken to some homeowners who would welcome the zoning change. “It would increase the value of their properties,” Good said.

The concept of University Village has brought together business owners who usually would be competing with each other rather than working together.

Louie Corzo, one of the owners of Papa John’s Pizza, 6221 South Claiborne Avenue, said that most of the business owners are united in their goal of improving the area with the University Village plan.

“We’ve realized that the more business any of us have, the more business we all have,” Corzo said. “We work really well together, I don’t know how else to put that.”

As an example of the harmony between competitors, Corzo pointed to a new restaurant, The World’s Healthiest Pizza, which opened recently near Papa John’s. Instead of viewing the newcomers as an infringement on his customer base, Corzo welcomes them. In fact, Corzo helped the new owner clean his ovens.

This kind of cooperation among rivals has been a byproduct of the University Village proposal, even at this early stage.

“The results have been very positive thusfar,” Verderber said. “The local business owners are communicating well with one another (far more than pre-Katrina) and they are brainstorming in a coordinated process.”

Funding for the conceptual project, which is still in the planning phase, is yet to be determined. The University Village master plan, provided by CUNA, lists several funding strategies that involve the use of tax incentives for businesses to make community improvements.

Aside from monetary concerns, many details have yet to be worked out. For example, to connect University Village to its surroundings, the master plan proposes a new crosswalk and traffic signal on South Claiborne. However, because South Claiborne is a state highway, that part of the proposal is uncertain.
Despite the challenges, University Village is moving forward, driven by the shared vision of all of those involved. It promises not only to improve campus living, but also to become an anchor for the neighborhood’s ongoing recovery.

“This project will be something to really hang our hats on as far as the recovery in our own neighborhood,” Dufour said. “Our idea is to bring the neighborhood back better than it was.”