Idea Village Plans Business Center
March 28, 2008 17:22PM
by Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune
Which comes first, the people or the businesses? That Katrina-updated take on the baffling chicken-and-egg question has permeated redevelopment talks in New Orleans for more than two years as communities look to rebuild both homes and commerce.
A partnership between the Idea Village, Habitat for Humanity and several local lenders is proffering an answer: Neither. Or both. The decision between the two is a matter of preference. But the general idea is that people and business should arrive at the same time.
As Habitat for Humanity carries out plans to build as many as 150 houses, including about 75 for musicians, in the Upper 9th Ward, the Idea Village and its investors are planning to turn a now-vacant 3,000-square-foot building at the corner of North Galvez and Piety streets into a retail shop and office center for small businesses.
"When they were launching the idea of the Musicians Village, the discussion included the question: 'How do you bring businesses back to the neighborhood?'" said Tim Williamson, co-founder of the Idea Village, a business incubator. "We thought if we could become a catalyst for driving business in tandem with the housing recovery that would be a great opportunity."
The Business Innovation Center is a $400,000 project financed through grants and donations. The Idea Village purchased the building, which housed a pharmacy and medical offices before Katrina, using seed money from Regions Bank and Mercy Corps. Tulane University is partnering in the project and donating plans for the building's design. Meanwhile, Habitat for Humanity will be responsible for building out the space. The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Center provided a grant for computers and office supplies.
"One of the most critical elements for a neighborhood is to have the kinds of services that the people in the community need," said Jim Pate, executive director of New Orleans Habitat for Humanity. "So we were very excited to work with the Idea Village on the Business Innovation Center."
When it opens in late summer or early fall, the Business Innovation Center will include a 1,000-square-foot retail shop on its first floor and 2,000 square feet in office and meeting space on its second level.
The Idea Village solicited applications from business owners in need of retail space to place in the building. A committee including the Idea Village, neighborhood association members and lenders narrowed the pool of applicants to four: a hair salon, high-end clothier, workforce development training company and a mother-daughter team proposing a combination cellular phone store and children's clothing shop. On Friday, The Idea Village selected Reflections of Beauty hair salon to occupy the facility.
"Each of these we feel are important to the neighborhood," Williamson said. The business will receive a two-year lease and will not have to pay rent in its first year. In the second year, the company will pay a subsidized rate based on market value.
Williamson believes the neighborhood will receive an economic boost not only from the direct financial impact of the one retail shop, but from confidence it gives other business owners to move to the area.
"That's something that is hard to measure initially," Williamson said. "But it's incredibly valuable."
Also of value will be the services on the building's second level, where business seminars and training will be offered and computers and office space available for temporary use.
"You can do the direct economic impact of the initial retailer, but the center will serve other entrepreneurs in the city," Williamson said.
Katherine Prevost, president of the community association for the Bunny Friend neighborhood, where the center is located, hopes it will encourage both residents and businesses to return. Fewer than half of that neighborhood's residents and a few businesses, including a grocery store, restaurant, hardware store and auto repair shop, have returned.
"We're still missing several businesses, and some of them don't look like they are coming back," Prevost said. "So we're going to think of other ways to bring business back."
Habitat and Idea Village researched several neighborhoods before selecting the North Galvez Street location. They ultimately chose that site because it is where Habitat has concentrated its largest home-building effort. But that doesn't mean that the other sites won't be revisited in the future. Pate said he is already eyeing locations in eastern New Orleans and Hollygrove.
"This is a model. The ultimate goal would be creating a network of this around the city," Williamson said. "Once we validate how it creates true economic impact, we can really create innovation centers around the city."
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Jaquetta White can be reached at jwhite@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3494.