Walgreens on Magazine – Update 12/26/12
With the holidays upon us, Magazine Street is buzzing and so is the Walgreens construction site. The interior work now revolves around finalizing all the sheetrock work, floor preparation for italian tile, electrical services and the placement of the American Legion Medallion Logo. When we first looked at the development of this building it was clear from the beginning that the heritage of the American Legion Post should be maintained in the final form of our new store. One piece of the original building is the old terrazzo floor medallion that was carefully lifted out of the floor, and is now being prepared to be repositioned near the rear entrance of the parking lot. This will be a striking feature as you enter the building and will highlight the high level of standard of our Nation’s Armed Services. The frontage along Magazine Street is now complete with the brick vineer and precast stonework and will now see the final detail work of stucco. It will not be long before the scaffolding is down and it will be a beautiful sight.
Mid-City Market – December Update
Foundation, Standing Columns, and Joist Girders at Winn-Dixie – 12/5/12
Steel Tower Elements at Building Under Renovation – 12/5/12
We have moved forward rapidly in the site and building construction at Mid-City Market in New Orleans. At Winn-Dixie, structural steel arrived on site and we have erected the standing up columns and joist girders within the interior footprint of the 53,000 square-foot building. We have completed underground plumbing and electrical work in all the areas with the steel overhead. In the next two weeks, we will be constructing the exterior load bearing metal stud framing walls and following immediately thereafter will be structural steel at the exterior. We will be completing underground plumbing and electrical work in exterior areas within two weeks, and beginning concrete pours of the slab at Winn-Dixie on December 21st.
At the existing building under renovation, we have erected the steel tower elements for the entrances of the stores which will include Office Depot, Jefferson Feed, Panera, and Pizza Hut. The changes to the rear wall and repairs for the masonry are approximately 90% completed, and within the next two weeks the front curbs for the storefronts will be poured. We have begun the prep work and plan for the repairs for the roofing and decking to be replaced as well. The two small-shop buildings fronting Carrollton are progressing quickly as well – we are progressing with the underground work, expecting structural steel on site within the next two weeks, and aim to complete the slab pours by the end of the year.
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 12/6/12
Both interior and exterior work are progressing at a good pace this month. As the photo indicates the address precast stone was placed at the roofline just this week and the brick veneer on Magazine Street is nearly complete. This will be striking when the scaffolding is removed and when all the fine stucco detail work is complete in the next few weeks. Interior work is a combination of drywall installation, initial floor prep, electrical rough-in and final HVAC ductwork connections. The rear wall facing the parking lot is now covered with stucco and will have the finish coat in place this coming week. Things are coming together, stay tuned.
East Coast, West Coast…Emergence of the Third Coast
I wanted to share this recently published article, “The Rise of the Third Coast,” by Joel Kotkin, an internationally-recognized researcher and author on global, economic, political and social trends. In the piece, Kotkin describes the “Third Coast,” in large part driven by a “resurgent New Orleans” region, as “one of the major forces in twenty-first-century America.”
One quote in this article that is particularly striking to me is regarding the education system:
In a new report, government efficiency expert David Osborne describes New Orleans’s reforms as a “breakthrough.” The results, he says, are “spectacular: test scores, graduation rates, college-going rates, and public approval have more than doubled in five years.” He adds, “I believe this is the single most important experiment in American education today.”
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 11/2/12
The project is still moving along at a fast pace. Following the setting of the base cast stone, you can now see that the front façade brick veneer is going up quickly. The large windows facing Magazine street are taking shape and it will not be long before this phase is complete. The interior work is progressing with the installation of drywall, completion of framing, HVAC Ductwork, Electrical Rough-In and the concrete decking work at the second floor.
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 10/25/12
Things are moving fast at Magazine Street Walgreens. We now have laid the starting course of cast stone on the front elevation, from there on up we will see the brick veneer going up which will help define the window openings. The roofing is now complete, building totally dried in and HVAC Units are in place. Ductwork is now underway inside as well as a flurry of activity of Drywall Studwork, Electrical Rough-in and some of the remaining selective demolishing work. The Walgreens specified tile flooring is being manufactured and due to ship from Italy in early December, this store will not look like your typical Walgreens….we can’t wait to see it either!
