The New Orleans Federal Alliance (NOFA) and HRI/ECC, LLC have partnered to achieve the success of the Federal City project.
HRI/ECC, LLC is a joint venture between privately owned Historic Properties, Inc (HRI) and Environmental Chemical Corporation (ECC) specifically created for the development of Federal City. HRI/ECC creates a unique synergy by merging the capabilities and experience of HRI, one of New Orleans’ premier developers for neighborhood revitalization, and ECC, an international Federal program management company heavily involved in local hurricane recovery efforts. HRI/ECC team member Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) brings facilities management and financial expertise to the team, while leading urban planning entity, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) will add their extensive community revitalization experience, including recent work at the Naval Complex in Belle Chasse, LA, to the project.
The Federal City Industry Forum was held on July 25, 2007 at the University of New Orleans' Lindy C. Boggs International Conference Center. The final Forum Presentations, Attendee List, Q&A, and other follow-up documents are now available online. Please visit the Project Documents and Questions and Answers links to the left to view the latest information uploads.
NOFA will work closely with HRI/ECC to consider a development scenario and land uses that achieves the desired outcomes of a sustainable military/federal installation together with other private development that creates jobs and promotes local economic development.
The National Headquarters for Naval and Marine Reserves is on the East Bank. This large underutilized space duplicates expenditures and overhead and is an inefficient facility for joint office configuration.
The administrative, residential, and recreational facilities are located on West Bank land purchased by the Navy in 1849. This River separation costs both time and money. There is an opportunity to consolidate recreational facilities, conference spaces, food services, as well as other duplicated efforts, and eliminate the costly river transportation.
Initial planning includes the prudent demolition of underutilized and outmoded structures, freeing up strategic river access acres that can house important new joint facilities, as well as the development of a new main entrance, providing controlled access.
The original Federal City concept included a Joint Security Center that would be programmed and designed to be a headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security, with its 21 agencies, and the Eighth District Coast Guard. The concentric design emphasizes an environment of security and collaboration, with two low-rise office towers providing separate and efficient workspaces. The rings unite the common workspaces and areas for future expansion. Overall, the architecture maximizes the proximity and access to the Mississippi River.
The concept also called for a Conferencing Center to be used for meetings, recruitment, conferences and emergency all-branch convocations. The Joint Command and Joint Security would have access to separate meeting halls inter-connected on two levels. The conference center houses meeting spaces, lounges, and a learning center with classrooms. A large multi-use auditorium would be incorporated in the center of the building, a plan modeled after those strategic military facilities used in actual warfare operations. Federal City will provide the ideal training facility for all Reservists, as well as a regional and national secured military conferencing center. The originally proposed center’s attractive entrance invites interaction in training, conferencing and mission accomplishment. The lobby was visualized as open through both floors revealing a lofted ceiling, uniting all the public spaces. The auditorium would seat 575 in an assembly formation, suitable for lectures, seminars and conferences, and is a state-of-the-art Command & Control center, modeled after joint command centers abroad. The concept called for an ideal joint venue for operations that can involve all the various branches of the military as well as the Department of Homeland Security.
Additional program elements planned in the original Federal City concept also included concrete-structured parking buildings adjacent to the new facilities, a hotel supporting the regional conference center, vehicle maintenance shops and utility and storage sheds, and parade grounds for assembly, revelry, parade and military ceremonies.
The initial concept saw the key neighborhoods within the City as a housing community (currently in place), temporary housing for bachelor enlisted quarters as well as hotel guests, residential neighborhood amenities (such as Churches, library, Day Care Center, retail shops and services, landscaped spaces for parade and recreation, educational facilities, a federal administrative district, utility and maintenance facilities (including purified water and emergency power), and river front facilities.
Federal City should be planned for future expansion and reconfiguration to suit the needs of large-scale public or private tenants and commands, alleviating future encroachment issues.
The original Federal City plan was intended to represent a new frontier. With a philosophy of integration and coordination, its goal is to achieve a contemporary architectural expression that brings to “place” a sense of security, jointness and a healthy quality of life, all designed to allow our most essential military commands to fully integrate with each other, as well as with other governmental agencies, in order to perform at peak synergy and efficiency.
