Will Bradshaw
Co-Founder & President, Green Coast Enterprises
Since its founding in 2007, Green Coast Enterprises has focused on urban and coastal areas in need of community renewal.
Notable project: The Pythian — the renovation of a historical downtown building (opened May 12) into apartments, dining and shopping.
Most excited about…
We are now completing the commercial interiors of The Pythian, which include a food hall, a lounge/venue, and an event space operated by a new venture Green Coast is partnering in called Pythian Market. These three spaces will be a cultural showcase for the building and our city, building on our traditions in food, music and celebration.
Biggest anticipated challenge…
The development industry has an enormous impact on our energy use and, by extension, human impact on climate change. Where we put buildings and how we build them can do more to help or hurt man-made climate change than just about any other human endeavor. For the last 10 years, Green Coast has been here in New Orleans working in a small way to model better choices on this front. We continue breathing new life into blighted, urban core sites, helping shorten commute times and make neighborhoods thrive. We help 15 charter schools and the Recovery School District operate their buildings more effectively. We have also been one of the most aggressive adopters of low-impact development practices that help store and recharge rainwater on development sites, both small and large.
And yet, for all these successful efforts, the choices we make as a public, especially our political choices, far outweigh what we can do as one small business. We all have a responsibility to our children to leave this planet in better condition than we found it. We are failing in that responsibility now in Louisiana and Texas (the two states I have called home for most of my life) and we are paying a dear price for it.
