They say that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” and that is the plan Steve Oubre, Project Designer at Architects Southwest, says about the lakefront traditional neighborhood development (TND) Port Marigny on the Mandeville lakefront. Port Marginy will be patterned after the “historic character” of Old Mandeville. The 78-acre project site is located on the former Pre-Stressed Concrete Products plant just east of Lake Pontchartrain

Causeway.

The waterfront development’s updated figures and renderings were presented to the Mandeville Planning and Zoning Commission July 28, 2015, and the project will only be allowed to proceed with the City Council’s approval. The City Council will hold several more meetings to allow Mandeville’s resident’s opinions to be heard before voting their final approval.

Mandeville’s residents, who attended the standing-room-only, meeting July 28, 2015, were able to ask important questions about the project’s density and potential traffic problems the new development could create. Many believe the developers of Port Marigny plan to build too many housing units which will cause traffic congestion in the area. The proposed development plans include building 429 “New Urbanism” new homes for sale which include apartments (multi-family housing), condominiums and single-family homes on large home sites. In addition to the new construction housing units there will also be 60,000 square feet of commercial space, a 150-slip marina, a 120-room boutique

hotel, a park and a town center that would feature a statue of city founder Bernard de Marigny. Traffic Consultant Rich Hall will address these concerns and has already taken preliminary traffic counts. He plans to take additional counts once school begins in August.

Richard Muller’s, attorney for Marcus Pittman owner of the property which the abandoned concrete plant sits on and who is providing guidance for the proposed project, described the focus of the project is to “facilitate the development of a vibrant, walkable, mixed-use, waterfront development that provides strong fiscal benefits for the city.” Residents who will own a new construction unit in the residential community will have narrow setbacks, large lots, sidewalks, service alleys with back access garages, streets no longer than 650 feet, and the multi-family homes will be four stories high including commercial space on the first floor.

Oubre is confident in the project. Oubre stated that his goal was to “build to the historic character” of neighboring Old Mandeville. “Old Mandeville was done right,” Oubre said. “We’re trying to replicate it.”

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

Despite the frustration of finding lots on which to build and labor (employees and sub-contractors) to use to build new, single-family homes, the housing market is on an upward trend.  An increase in permits, starts, and confidence in the building industry by builders was reported by the National Association of Home Builders for the month of June, 2015.  New home permits rose in all 4 regions of the United States from the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West at 2.8%, 2.9%, 10.4% and 9.5% respectively.  The South gained a huge percentage jump in new home housing permits during June, and overall, single-family home permits rose .9% to 687,000 compared to previous months.

New home starts went up mostly for multi-family  building which went up by a huge 9.8% to over 1 million total units – 1.174 million to be exact.  Overall multifamily construction was up 29.4% for a total of 489,000 units.

“The multifamily gains this month are encouraging and show that the millennial generation continues to be drawn to the rental market,” said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a home builder from Blue Springs, MO.

Builder confidence is also the highest it’s been since November, 2005.  While any number above 50 means that builders are thinking positively about sales conditions, sales expectations for the next 6 months, and buyer traffic; builder confidence rose in June to 60 averaged out over all three survey results.

“The fact that builder confidence has returned to levels not seen since 2005 shows that housing continues to improve at a steady pace,” said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods. “As we head into the second half of 2015, we should expect a continued recovery of the housing market.”

Buyers are actually seeing a little bit of a seller’s market because of the lack of inventory of new homes for sale.  A dearth of lots and a shortage of construction labor has contributed to a shrinking inventory of supply for homes to buy nationwide.  However, the strong numbers for new home permits in the Southern and Midwest regions signal that new home buyers will soon have homes from which to choose.  If you would like to build your home instead of buying an inventory home, Contact Ron Lee Homes at 985-626-7619 or e-mail Info@RonLeeHomes.com.

Click Here and Here for the Sources of the Information.

Luckily the housing market is picking up along with home construction. Now is a great time to become a new homeowner. As a new home buyer, you will want to look for these five up and coming latest trends. These design features and trends are being used by innovative builders, remodelers and architects in new home construction. The trends which were seen at the 2015 St. Tammany Parish Parade of Homes and which will also be seen at the New Orleans Parade of Homes are based on National Association of Home Builders “Best in American Living Awards.”

Do not fear!  If you are already a homeowner, this doesn’t mean you are left out of the loop. Just because these five design trends are used by the professionals in new construction, doesn’t mean you cannot incorporate them into your own home with a build-on addition or remodel.

First on the list is a white-on-white kitchens.  Whether you have a traditional or modern style home, this trend is popular in both.  Think white on white on white.  Designers are taking white cabinets, paring them with white countertops with a white backsplash and finishing it off with all white trim.  Ron Lee Homes incorporates a variety of materials (stone, ceramic tile, glass, and granite) to incorporate this look in kitchens and master baths, specifically.

Second is a double-island kitchen.  Once again it doesn’t matter what style home you live in, you are seeing more than one island in a kitchen.  Many times one island is used for cooking and preparing the food while the other is used for serving and dining. The second island can serve a dual function as a home work or hobby space.  In new homes built by St. Tammany Parish builder, Ron Lee Homes, you will see many of our kitchens use a double island and breakfast bar.  The island usually includes a sink as well as a dishwasher or warming oven / drawer.  The breakfast bar is attached to the island and normally flows into the family room – a perfect place for families to gather and socialize.

Third design is centered bathtubs and walk in showers.  If you visit a spa, this is often what is seen in these well designed relaxing atmospheres. Professionals are now taking the trend into the home.  Tubs are becoming a central focal piece and walk in showers are taking the place of a shower stall. Ron Lee Homes uses oversized showers and custom, hand-laid ceramic tile or stone.  Our home buyers request specific shower heads and sprays as well as seating areas inside these large shower spaces.  Also, glass doors or even “windows” are also popular with our new custom home designs.

Fourth is old world style meets modern contemporary. This is done by taking natural elements mixed with contemporary materials which soften the hard modern design.  Wood, steel and glass are popular materials being used in this trend.  In new custom homes, cypress beams and unfinished cypress fireplace mantles have been very popular in a few of our newly built custom homes.  Also, we enjoy mixing and matching materials on the fireplace surround, fireplace mantle, and built-in bookshelves.

Last is indoor-outdoor living. This trend is starting to be seen no matter what climate you live in.  Home buyers love to see a design that incorporates the outside view.  Indoor-outdoor transitional spaces can be easily added by using screens and removable/foldable walls.  In a few of the recent new homes built by Ron Lee Homes in St. Tammany Parish, we have incorporated screened-in porches that are “livable” – complete with a television, that open to outdoor patios with outdoor cooking areas.  We have even built outdoor kitchens inside of screened in porches upon request.

Ron Lee Homes takes pride in constantly staying on the cutting edge of residential building design and remodeling.  If you are interested in seeing a new, custom home built with these trends released by the National Association of Home Builders, take a tour of some of our newly built homes in Mandeville, Covington, and Madisonville.  To find out more, call 985-626-7619 or E-mail Info@RonLeeHomes.com.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

The term, traditional neighborhood development, evolved out of the concept of urban planning which included designing a “small town” within larger cities that has its own town center as well as commercial, retail, residential, and sometimes rental opportunities for its residents.  Walk to where you work and play became the buzz words for these urban and suburban communities.  Now, in Mandeville, Louisiana urban architect Steve Oubre, of Architects Southwest is set as the designer of terra bella village to create lakefront traditional neighborhood development plans for the site of the now abandoned industrial concrete plant.

Located just east of the Causeway Bridge, the plant was used to fabricate the concrete sections and pillars for the Causeway Bridge, which was originally built in 1956.  The plant has not operated as an industrial concrete fabrication site since 1984.  Drs Michael and Marcus Pittman purchased the property at sheriff’s auction that same year.  In 2011, they commenced a massive cleanup effort to prep the land for development.

Three planning  meetings have been scheduled by Architects Southwest, the developers, and interested community groups and residents of Mandeville on April 7th, April 9th, and April 13th.  Steve Oubre spoke at the first meeting on April 7th and presented a 90-minute powerpoint explaining the vision of this new community.  After extensive market studies, high-rise towers were eliminated from the plan, and the vision now includes retails shops, housing units, a hotel, and a marina on the lakefront location all centered around the town center, just like the traditional neighborhood developments he designed both in Lafayette, LA and Covington, Louisiana.

Once community feedback has been received, it’s “back to the drawing board” to actually draw up plans and renderings to present to the Mandeville City Council and the St. Tammany Parish government for ultimate approval to begin construction. Homeowners in Mandeville can expect property values to appreciate with the construction of several hundred housing units if the engineered plans are approved.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

The act of sale for the nearly 300 acres of land that currently encompasses the former Southeast Louisiana Psychiatric Hospital – now known as Northlake Behavioral Health – will be held, Thursday, March 26, 2015, at 2pm.  The sale is between the state of Louisiana and St. Tammany Parish.  The parish negotiated a sales price of

$15.4 million to buy the property, and the parish plans on utilizing the land for a few different purposes: possible expansion for Pelican Park, a new roadway from Hwy. 190 (Florida St.) to 1088 reducing congestion for both Hwy. 190 and Hwy. 59, and to bolster the government’s wetland mitigation bank.

St. Tammany Parish’s wetland mitigation bank is served by Mossy Hill Mitigation Bank which also serves the wetland preservation needs of Washington and Tangipahoa Parishes.  It will also review requests for credit from areas outside of these areas on a case-by-case basis.  The idea is that builders and developers may purchase a one-time credit from the Mossy Hill Mitigation Bank to offset the impacts that their construction will have on the wetlands involved with the project.  They must offer another portion of the project that is close to or adjacent to the job that they own in exchange for this credit so that the wetlands in other areas are preserved.

“When impacts to jurisdictional wetlands are unavoidable, a one-time credit purchase from the Mossy Hill Mitigation Bank prevents mitigation cost overruns and irrevocably transfers your perpetual mitigation liability to Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP), one of the nation’s leading providers of environmental credits,” according to the website for the Mossy Hill Mitigation Bank.

St. Tammany Parish’s Pelican Park may purchase as much as 100 acres of the land involved in Thursday’s act of

sale to expand upon its already 321-acre park. In conjunction with the expansion is the hope that St. Tammany Parish will go ahead with the road building / expansion project between 190 and 1088 in order to construct a second entrance to Pelican Park on this cut-through road.

The “fate” of Northlake Behavioral Health is secured through this act of sale because one of the conditions of the purchase was that St. Tammany Parish leave the buildings and land belonging to the psychiatric hospital campus intact and operating as a behavioral health hospital.  Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, the current company that mangages operations at the hospital through a privatization program has expressed interested in purchasing the entire campus and land from St. Tammany Parish.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.