NEW ORLEANS – The City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Building Corporation (NOBC) announced the Selection Committee for the redevelopment of the 33-story building and site of the former World Trade Center located at 2 Canal Street.
On September 29, 2014, NOBC issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) seeking proposed development concepts and qualifications from experienced real estate developers. On November 14, 2014, NOBC received eleven responses to the RFQ. Ten of the responses are considered viable proposals for the redevelopment of the property and one response was a very brief request from a citizen requesting donation of the property to his family which did not meet the requirements of the RFQ. Because of New Orleans’ improved market, the ten proposals under consideration each may provide greater value to the City of New Orleans than the previous attempt to redevelop the property earlier this year.
The members of the Redevelopment of 2 Canal Street Selection Committee are:
• Cindy Connick, Executive Director, Canal Street Development Corporation
• Andy Kopplin, First Deputy Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer
• Bill Gilchrist, Director of Place-Based Planning, City of New Orleans
• Bob Rivers, Executive Director, New Orleans City Planning Commission
• Ashleigh Gardere, Director, Network for Economic Opportunity, City of New Orleans
The Selection Committee for the RFQ will meet on Monday, December 15, at 1:00 p.m., in the Eighth Floor Conference Room (Room 8E10) in City Hall, 1300 Perdido St., to evaluate and score the proposals which will result in a short-list of respondents who will move on to the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase of the process.
On January 2, 2015, the short-listed respondents will receive the RFP for Redevelopment of 2 Canal Street and will be invited to provide presentations of their proposals to the Selection Committee on February 16, 2015. On March 23, 2015, the Selection Committee will meet to evaluate and score the RFP proposals and select a developer for this property.
“The redevelopment of 2 Canal Street is one of the most important legacies we will leave with this City,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. “We expect to engage a developer whose intentions for this project are in line with the expectations of the people of New Orleans. I believe the people of New Orleans want to see an iconic structure on our Riverfront that welcomes visitors and honors our local culture and heritage.”
Mayor Landrieu added, “Our developer partner should be committed to significant local participation, labor participation, and DBE participation. I also expect the developer to exhibit a firm commitment to long-term economic growth for our City through this project. This project should bring local jobs to our community and open doors for our workforce. We expect to have a developer on board that is committed to creating and sustaining those jobs, and committed to being a good corporate citizen within our community. I have always said the people of New Orleans will rebuild New Orleans, and this project is no exception.”
