Planned Hollygrove development, Grove Place, will increase affordable housing options
1st August 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
A fourth-generation, Black-owned, development corporation recently broke ground on a new, 32-unit affordable rental apartments in Hollygrove, the same neighborhood in which the company’s owners have called home for their entire lives.
New Orleans Restoration Properties is turning a long-vacant Church’s fried chicken building on Earhart Boulevard into Grove Place apartments, and NORP’s owners, the Irons family, are hoping that the development will help the city’s affordable-housing crisis, especially among residents of color and other vulnerable populations.
Paul Irons, a principal owner of NORP, said that Hollygrove has nurtured him and his family for generations, and with Grove Place, he said, NORP and the Irons family hope to give back to their neighborhood and the sense of identity it gave the family.
He added that hopefully, NORP can present a blueprint for success that other Black-owned development companies can follow in a way that narrows the gap in success and impact between white- and Black-owned development firms.
“We know that studies show that in the affordable housing realm, Black developers are underrepresented,” he said. “There is a need for equality [in the industry] because of systemic racism, and we know that [the industry] needs to give opportunities to Black developers, and we feel that is something that should be celebrated.
“He added that minority-owned and operated businesses like his family’s are able to use personal experiences and connections “so we can develop the way development should be done, by folks who understand that community.”
Marseah Delatte, Paul Irons’ sister and NORP partner, said Hollygrove was chosen as the location for the company’s new project because the family hopes to enhance the housing fortunes of vulnerable populations, especially Black residents. “We know the demographics of [the neighborhood] is predominantly people of color, and we want to give them the opportunity to have affordable housing, and to have it in their neighborhood,” she said.
The Grove Place project is being financed by Enterprise Community Partners, the City of New Orleans and the Louisiana Housing Corporation. Enterprise is providing support for NORP’s efforts to preserve and bolster affordability in the historic Hollygrove neighborhood through the Equitable Path Forward program, a five-year, $3.5-billion countrywide initiative aimed at investing in development companies owned and operated by people of color and working to dismantle the long-existing, economic debilitating legacy of racism in the housing industry.
EPF, a national non-profit, is providing a $6.7-million Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investment to provide financing for the property, as well as making up to $750,000 in backup loans available to bolster NORP’s finances and aid it in qualifying for further financing.
Michelle Whetten, Enterprise vice president and Gulf Coast market leader, said Delatte and Irons “have all the right tools and experience to successfully develop Grove Place. This is a family business going back generations with a great track record of success.”
However, she added, NORP faced systemic barriers in its attempts to generate the capital needed to secure the company’s first Low-Income Housing Tax Credit deal.
“Although New Orleans Restoration Properties has four generations of development experience, this is the company’s first Low Income Housing Tax Credit project and first project of this size,” Whetten said.
She added that Enterprise was glad to provide Irons and Delatte with the financial backing their company needed to strengthen NORP and the Hollygrove community.
“Enterprise’s goal for this project was not only to support the building of more high quality, energy-efficient affordable homes in an area that has traditionally lacked investment, in a city with a growing affordable housing crisis, but also to help a local developer with ties to the community break into this business – an industry with systemic racist barriers that have prevented many highly qualified developers of color from achieving success,” Whetten said. “Since its inception, that has always been the primary focus of Equitable Path Forward, and we are thrilled to see it come to fruition with Grove Place.”
District A City Councilman Joseph Giarrusso, whose district includes Hollygrove, noted that Grove Place will help relieve urban blight by not only building new units, but also renovating and redeveloping existing abandoned units into single-family and multi-family residences. He added that the project’s location is ideal for the nature of the development.
“Additional affordable housing in any neighborhood is much needed,” Giarrusso said. “But additional affordable housing in a centralized neighborhood like Hollygrove, near schools and families, is a bonus.
“We know 32 units is not going to turn the tide of our affordable housing problem,” he added. “But this is a start. I’m proud to have been part of this project, and I appreciate Paul and his team doing the outreach necessary to make it a success.”
Delatte said Grove Place will hopefully be completed and ready for occupation in about 14 months, and she added that the company has already received interest from possible residents. NORP will continue to provide updates on the project’s process over the upcoming months.
Irons called Grove Pace “an accomplishment for the City of New Orleans.”
“Not only are we making a new community, but we also want to be a catalyst for growth in the neighborhood and to increase property values,” he said, adding that “for us to be able to do this is a blessing from God.”
This article originally published in the August 1, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
